Blog Bites

2011-12-05T14:06:00.000-06:00

BLOG BITES ON BREAK FOR REMAINDER OF YEAR

Due to personal commitments (nothing bad) just life and other
outside activites I will be unable to resume the blog until after
the New Year.

Please check back in January.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-11-07T09:33:00.001-06:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

SERENA SHAY

CONTEST: One lucky commenter will be chosen on Thursday, Nov. 10^th to receive a copy of Serena's recent release, A Magical Return. Good luck!

AL: Hi Serena! Welcome to Blog Bites.

Serena: Hi Ann! Thanks so much for having me here for the next few days, I can’t wait to check the place out…you know peek around corners, meander down forbidden hallways, burst through closed doors. I’ve read your Eternal Series, so I just know there must be some sexy vamps here somewhere… ~wink~

AL: Naughty girl, but true...I'm sure you'll find a vamp or two in a shadowed corner waiting to nibble on someone. So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Serena: Well, the hubby and I just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this year…and I’m happy to report that we both looked at each other that morning and said, “lookin’ good, how about another 15?” My eleven year old, Darling Diva, has decided that rather than a jewelry designer, she would like to be an actor/singer (Man those were the days, weren’t they? Every kiddo must want to perform at one point…I sure did.) And I am, hopefully, going to be rid of my yearly bout of bronchitis. Yep, a writers dream…let’s write some sex today, hack, cough, hack. LOL

AL: Tell us about a current or upcoming release.

Serena: My current release is entitled A Magical Return. It’s a story of somewhat human lovers, who have an affinity to the elements and a special ability to carry inside themselves another being. An Other, or a magical essence, here to help protect humans from evil.

Unfortunately, as is the case in romance, all hell breaks loose (literally) and tears our couple apart. But, as the title implies, they get a second chance at love; if they can get over all the bumps in the magical road home.

AL: Sounds like another great read. You know this reader will be checking it out. What other works are you deep into?

Serena: Well, right now I’m nearly finished with my second Jaguar shifter story, The Submission. This time it’s all about Marina’s (heroine from The Challenge) sister LeAnn and her mate’s, Rick and Trent. I had originally thought to have The Submission out quite a while ago, but the characters threw me for a loop the first time I was close to the end. I found myself dismantling the entire story and starting over… Frustrating, for sure, but the characters are always right though, and now the story is that much better.

AL: I have a couple that's like that. You've me them. Christian and Alynn. Who is the author(s) that inspired you to write?

Serena: Wow, you know, I have so many authors I just love to read and find inspiring so it’s hard to pick just one. I will say that while I’ve always had the writing bug, it was my first paranormal romance that made me say, “Oh yeah, I am so going to do this one day.” And the author I was reading at the time…Christine Feehan.

AL: Of your books, whose your favorite hero and heroine?

Serena: Gasp, but I love all my characters!! Currently, though, it is not a character from one of my published works or WIP who I find the most fun to scribe for. I’ve been writing flashes on my group blog Shapeshifter Seductions http://shapeshifterseductions.blogspot.com/ that take place in a fictitious town by the name of Talbot’s Peak. This is a wicked fun town, with a cast of characters as long as my…leg. ~wink~

My favorite to write about is Ziva and Nick. Alpha werewolves who put out the town paper and still find time to torment each other.

AL: Have you ever wanted to write your book in one direction but your characters wanted to go in another direction. What did you do in such a situation?

Serena: All the free-wheeling time! LOL I swear I must have the mouthiest, and orneriest, characters around. All the time with what they want and how they want it, never mind what the actual author wants to do… BUT ~I have to whisper this so as to keep the hooting and hollering inside my poor brain to a minimum~ much the same as good customer service, the character is always right. Yep, I said it; I let my characters get away with anything and everything they want, because in the end, they are always right.

AL: It’s time to get personal! Do you have a favorite sport, &/or team that you follow?

Serena: Oh my, when you said personal I thought for sure we were gonna talk sex! Ooooh wait, can we include sex as a sport?? No…Okay, but, what if… No again… You’re killing me here, Ann ~wink~

Now, where was I? Oh yes, sports. See, I’m not much for sports, unless we’re talking the Olympics. Baseball, Football, Hockey…I can take them or leave them, but The Olympics are a must watch for me. Summer or winter, doesn’t matter I like them equally. In the summer I can watch them swim and dive, in the winter bobsledding and skeleton. How awesome is that!

AL: Come on, Serena. A man in a football uniform. Now that's a sexy-sport on a stick. Yum! All those hits, and running and more hits, all that male verility on display. Wait....fanning myself. Now, can you describe yourself in 3 sentences or less?

Serena: How about 3 words…Sexy, Sassy and Sensual!

AL: If you weren't writing, what do you suppose you'd be doing?

Serena: Beating back the voices in my head! And probably working an office job where I’d drink too much coffee and gossip incessantly! So, for the safety of others, I’d best continue to write. Heh heh

AL: Where would you like to travel if you had the chance?

Serena: Everywhere! I was bitten by the travel bug at a young age and the need to see everything has yet to wear off. I would love to take to my car, with my hubby and Darling Diva, and see every one of the states in this here country…top to bottom, side to side and with a slow boat to Hawaii at the end. When it’s all over…we’d be off to Europe!

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2012 and beyond?

Serena: Writing, writing and more writing! I have such a back log of idea that need to be written and new ones jumping in everyday, that I could be busy for the rest of my days! I’ve also given some thought to getting my toes wet in the indie publishing market with a few of my Talbot’s Peak shorts, but I’m still trying to decide on that end.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Serena: Here are a couple of my favorites. Wise words I try to remember every day.

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

You can’t have a light without a dark to stick it in. ~Arlo Guthrie

And lastly, the quote that speaks to the reader, the writer and the dreamer in me…

If you are a dreamer, come in. If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, a hoper, a prayer, a magic-bean-buyer. If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire, for we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in! ~Shel Silverstein

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Serena.

Serena: Thanks for having me here, Ann! I always feel so incredibly welcomed in your lovely writer’s cave. Plus, this time I found the room you keep your naughty night dwellers in, so I may never leave! ~wink~

AL: Have fun, Serena! If you’d like to find out more about Serena please visit:

http://serenashay.blogspot.com/ Shapeshifter Seductions-grp blog- http://shapeshifterseductions.blogspot.com/
Serena Shay’s Fan Page- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Serena-Shays-Fan-Page/267531343271739
Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/serenashay

FEATURED TITLE: A MAGICAL RETURN

Blurb:

The Loss

Conleth “Cole” Douglas, warlock and vessel, needs a miracle. A destructive force has taken hold of his town and it will take more than just he and his magical Other, Cole, to eradicate the Evil. When an attempt to open his lover, Emterra, to their shared destiny fails, Conleth and Cole take extreme measures to stop the rising darkness. Their only option: take it, and themselves, into another realm.

Emterra “Irene” Azzurra, untapped witch and vessel, has given up on finding her own happy-ever-after. Devastated by the loss of her one and only love she becomes disinterested and remote, closed off from a life without Conleth. Even her job as the mayor of the dying town of Douglasville, MO, fails to sustain her, until she gets a blast from the past…

The Return

He’s back, alive and whole, but he didn’t come alone. The evil they’d hoped to contain in a distant realm has returned with him and is out to finish the job it started. There can be no failure this time, the now middle-aged, Emterra must accept her Other or doom the town to an agonizing death.

Skeptical of his sudden homecoming, Emterra is afraid to hope that his return could be true. She balks at the idea of opening her heart to him again. Especially when he looks like the same young Goth from ten years ago and tries to convince her she’s sharing skin with a magical being.

Can Conleth prove his claims of magic and the Others to be true? Can Emterra allow herself to believe in love and his wild claims? Or will the returning Evil finally swallow this town and all its inhabitants into the deepest realms of hell.

Excerpt:

April 1st, 10 years ago

Northern Missouri, outside of Douglasville, in a barren tobacco field

Giant plumes of fire shot into the air, bracketing both the stage and Conleth ‘Cole’ Douglas within their heated embrace. The pyrotechnic display filled the night sky with showers of crackling flames.

An unknown force had let loose a demon within the town of Douglasville. Malevolent was too nice a word for this beast. This evil was a promise maker, a soul sucker, a bloody life taker, and now it was Conleth’s job to send it back to Hell. The only problem—he wasn’t nearly strong enough on his own. For this, he needed Em.

Emterra Azzurra was many things to him, his friend and lover, his soul mate—but right now what he needed the most was the thing inside her. Deep within the body, he knew quite intimately, was a being of magic, a source of goodness, an Other—one who had the ability to work with his own Other to defeat the evil bearing down on them now.

“Terra quod ventus nos queso ye, adeo nos, reperio vestri populous.” ‘Earth and wind we beseech ye, come to us, find your host’.

Together Conleth and his Other called the wind and summoned the earth. The task put a strain on their waning energy, as neither power was theirs to wield. Yet, they could only hope there was enough force to release Emterra’s powers, link her to the earth and air around them, and free her Other.

Magic spiraled through the crowd, seeping into pores and burrowing under skin, looking for its host, looking for Emterra. She was here. He could feel her; his Other had scented her life force as she’d entered the field of battle.

Con knew Emterra had the power to control the wind and a body to embrace the being she carried inside. With practice, she would hone the skill to become truly powerful, a force to be reckoned with, but time was an indulgence neither could afford. He had to encourage her to try, right here and right now. A gentle introduction to her new life was something he could not give her this time as he had in the past.

He prayed she would forgive him.

“Em,” he whispered inside her head. Her thoughts were a confused jumble of fears and questions. She didn’t yet believe in psychic links as Conleth did, but this was the only way he could find her in the mass of humanity about to be used as food.

“How can I…in my head…Con.” Her emotions were scattered, but in her newly cop-like way, she’d locked them deep down inside. “What are you doing?”

“Something good, my love, nothing that can hurt you.” He hoped. “But I need you to trust me.”

“Con, I’ve always trusted you, but…but this time, you’ve gone too far…please stop.”

“Do you remember our last concert, Em?”

He flashed a vision of them into her mind, taking her to a past where they soared into the eclectic world of musical freedoms and expressions, while around them, drugs and liquor flowed freely. Amid the rabid throng, they too screamed and beat their hands in the air to the squeal of the electric guitar and each bang on the skins of the drum.

“Don’t, please don’t make me remember this, Con.”

Her mental plea broke his heart. A heart that had always and would always beat for her and her alone. Unfortunately, his love and devotion to her were not enough to keep him from what he had to do, no matter how painful it may be.

“I’m sorry, my love, but you must remember. I need, no—we—need you to remember.”.

He sent her another vision. This time it was a memory of those magically successful moments when she had relaxed and let go enough for her Other to come close. She stood in the past, her hands high above her head as he’d cupped her breasts from behind. They swayed to the ballad screeching from the massive speakers. Nipples hardened to painful points between his fingers and thumbs as he squeezed them. He held her tight as she shook, he knew, from the shocking power filling her body.

“Say it, Em,” he’d whispered. “Say the words.”

“Vicis congelo,” she screamed into the sky above them. The Latin words for ‘time freeze’ rang clearly through the air.

Everything slowed. The band, being further away from them, moved as if they were stuck in a muddy bog, starting and stopping, their sounds low and slurred. The fans surrounding them, however, froze in pre-and post-head-banging modes. They stood amidst the previous chaos, enthralled by the strength of this new gift.

“No!”

A steel door ended the vision with a finality that worried him. They were back in the present, with evil all around them, and again she squashed the emotions and thoughts inside her. “Em, please…”

“No Con, that vision is nothing more than a drug-induced nightmare of a time best forgotten. It wasn’t real…”

Conleth’s Other began demanding release. “It was very real, Em, and what you did then, controlling time, is what we need now.”

“Stop it, Con, just stop this. The time for foolish pranks and pretending to be magical are over—it’s time to grow up!”

Goddess, he thought as he was pushed back into the background of his mind, exchanging consciousness with his Other—they were screwed.

*

Yep, clearly, Emterra had taken too many hits, swallows, and pills that crazy night, but youthful stupidity in the past did not explain the weirdness of tonight. First up on the loony list, Con “speaking” to her, inside her own head. That was just not possible, right…

“It has to be a drug flashback or a bad trip.” Of course, she no longer took the short road to psychedelic bliss. Self-preservation and a career in law enforcement had curtailed that activity long ago. What was it then, did she just long to hear Con’s voice in her head? Did she miss their youthful hijinx enough to imagine the gothy, witchy phase was real?

“Am I going crazy?” If talking to one’s self and hearing voices was any indication, she’d jumped on the crazy train the moment she stepped foot on this barren tobacco field.

Hordes of people writhed under the oppressive heat of the flames bursting into the air on stage. The energy was similar to what it had been like at the concerts of her youth, yet the mood was vastly different. The power, drawn from every soul she passed, beat at her with excitement, arousal, and agony. She yearned for more of their pain, but cringed at the cruelty inside her. These people were hurting and she was enjoying it on some level.

Tonight, she didn’t even have mind-altering drugs to blame.

Bodies writhed in the dirt of the farm field, screaming for release. Children sobbed next to adults who begged for it to be over. Wisps of red smoke swept over the crowd, a bloody evil probing for a way inside each soul it passed.

The leader of this invisible raping, pillaging mess of hellish torment, it seemed, was Conleth. Arms lifted skyward, he chanted words she’d never heard before, sounds that pulled at her. His words fed life into the columns of fire beside him. Higher they climbed, releasing the bloody red wisps, or possibly pulling them back in—she couldn’t tell. Her heart beat faster, pounding to the rhythm of his words. She had to get to him, stop him before it was too late.

She ran full out, palming her Taser as she made a beeline toward the man she loved. Electrified air charged the hair flying around her face. She never faltered; it was as if she were running on the wind.

“Conleth, stop,” she screamed at him from the dirt in front of the stage. “Please.”

“Malum phasmatis, reverto volo.”

Emma shook. He was speaking in Latin, and again she understood. ‘Evil spirits, return to me’. Oh Con, what have you done?

“Conleth Cole Douglas, cease and desist. Now!” She used her best cop voice in an attempt to take control of the situation, though she had no idea what the situation was. This night was to have been a magic show to support the families hit hardest by last season’s crop failures. The invite extended to the entire town with a request that everyone dig deep and give what they could—food, time, money. Anything would help.

Rumor had it, Martin and Wilhemina Douglas sponsored this worthy cause; but suspiciously, their son Conleth had been the only one to show. He’d promised big name magicians, bands, as well as a plethora of rich and famous people, ready to lend a financial helping hand.

Again, Con was the only one here. He was looking guiltier by the second, but of what? Mass hypnosis? Con was a master at hypnotism, but more one-on-one than a crowd this big. One look at the Labradorite stone he wore around his neck and she was a goner. The grayish-blue gem, with its green and blue flashes could pull her under in less time than it took an arsonist to flick his bic.

But that was one small gem; there were hundreds if not thousands of people gathered in this field. No way was he putting all these folks under, unless it was really the chanting doing the work.

Still he went on. “Malum phasmatis, reverto volo.” Over and over again, but that didn’t make sense. How could ‘evil spirits, return to me’ be used as a focus?

“Ut is est, sic vadum is exsisto.” A Latin phrase forced its way past her lips, ‘as it is, so shall it be’. The words seemed random to her, but to Con, they appeared to make sense. His head turned to her and the blood red eyes staring back at her climbed inside her skin and stilled her heart.

“Emterra Irene Azzurra, finish it,” the man she loved said in a voice not his own. “Please.”

“Con, get down. Now!”

“Finish it!” He screeched into the night sky.

“NO!”

“Finish it!”

“I can’t, I don’t know what you mean.” Fear seeped under Emma’s skin while bugs skittered around her brain. The pain was unbearable.

Tendrils of fire weaved through her body, meeting the air pushing its way in through her pores. A bright star burst to life beneath her skin. The light was more brilliant and loving than anything she’d felt in her entire life. The presence filled her, touching every lonely spot inside her with calm and well-being. There was safety within the light, protection. Yet she struggled to get away from the nexus of peace.

As quickly as it had come, the presence departed—torn from her with the subtlety of a rusty axe. The pain of it dropped Emma to her knees. She writhed upon the ground with fellow town members, praying for death, wondering how and why Con would do this.

Briefly, Latin words whispered through her brain, perfectus, per meus mos– ‘finished, by my will’, but the pain swept the words away, leaving only Conleth’s voice to fill the void in that dying field with a Latin rhyme.

“Per meus mos–‘By my will’, may this adnihilo, ‘demon’, return to me, cling to me. Take me, leave them be. Alive, but ten years more before we settle thy wicked score. Per meus mos,” he screamed, before disappearing in a flash of flame, miles high.

The blessed darkness overtook her.

REMEMBER: One lucky commenter will be chosen on Thursday, Nov. 10th to receive a copy of Serena's recent release, A Magical Return. Good luck!

2011-07-25T15:51:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

SILVIA VIOLET

CONTEST: Silvia will give away one download copy of Seduction of the Captain. How do you enter for a chance to win? Simply leave a comment for Silvia. Best wishes!

AL: Hi Silvia! Welcome to Blog Bites.

Silvia: Thanks for having me here, Ann.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Silvia: I’m enjoying soaking up summer – going to the pool with my kids, wading in creeks, taking hikes, and spending several long weekends to visit friends

AL: Tell us about a current or upcoming release.

Silvia: My most recent release is Seduction of the Captain, a BDSM sci fi story set on a mercenary ship. I enjoyed examining the power dynamics of my characters’ relationship. Kajinek is a Dominant pilot must who follow his Captain’s commands when he’s on the bridge, but when they’re in private, she submits to him.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Silvia: I’m working on two m/m stories now, one is sci fi story featuring intergalactic spies and the other is set on an underwater research station.

AL: How do you decide upon your settings? What about the names of characters? Do you ever change either mid-stream into a story?

Silvia: I typically meet my characters first and they give me the setting but sometimes they are reluctant to reveal their names. I have changed a characters name after getting a few chapters into the story and getting to know the character better.

AL: Do you ever have certain music you listen to when you write? Does it vary from book to book?

Silvia: I often write in silence (or the closest thing to it in a house with little kids). But when I write the steamier scenes I often listen to dance music like Pitbull, Flo Rida, or Enrique. Occasionally a song will seem perfect for the feel of a story. One of the characters in the sci fi story I’m working on now has chosen Shontelle’s Impossible as his theme song.

AL: You write submissive/dominate story lines. How do you when you know when you’ve crossed the line between romance/erotica to something else all together?

Silvia: My stories range from light play with power dynamics (the hero holding the heroines hands down while they have sex) to BDSM books where the interactions between the characters gets very intense (literal whips and chains). In these more intense stories, I spend some time examining the psychology of dominance and submission, but to me they are all still romance/erotica stories because they focus on the developing relationship between the characters. The BDSM scenes advance and deepen the characters relationship and by the end they have fallen in love with each other.

AL: It’s time to get personal! What is your favorite coffee drink?

Silvia: a local coffee shop has a drink called a Mayan Mocha – it has cayenne and cinnamon in it and is delightfully spicy and oh so good

AL: What annoys you enough to be considered a pet peeve?

Silvia: People who expect you to do all the work on a “group” project

AL: You are the heroine and you have the hero(s) on the island in the middle of your kitchen. What food would you be feeding…nibbling off each other?

Silvia: chocolate frosting and bacon

AL: Here it is: Torchwood or Doctor Who? Does it upset you as much as it did the hubby and I when they stopped Torchwood so early in its series? Or could you care less – just give you more John eye-candy? 

Silvia: Torchwood. I can’t get enough of Captain Jack. I would watch endless episodes of Torchwood, and I wish I had Starz so I could watch Miracle Day without having to wait until it’s available streaming. In the meantime, I’ll take all the John eye candy I can get. :-)

AL: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?

Silvia: My muse is leading me to explore the m/m genre right now. I’d like to find homes for the m/m stories I’m working on now. I took a long hiatus from publishing and I’m still getting back in the swing of things. My primary goals now are to continue to push myself to write daily and to get my name out to readers.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Silvia: Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak. -Thomas Carlyle

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Silvia.

Silvia: Thanks for talking with me, Ann.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Silvia please visit:

http://silviaviolet.com
http://facebook.com/silvia.violet

FEATURED TITLE: SEDUCTION OF THE CAPTAIN

Blurb:

Kajinek is a Lalatian Dominant who must feed on fear, pain, and sex for survival. Since leaving his homeworld, he hasn’t met a woman who could truly satisfy his needs.

Mercenary captain Saida Alexander needs a pilot for the most dangerous mission she’s ever undertaken. She chooses Kajinek, because he’s reputed to be the very best. She never suspects that he’ll awaken the submissive desires she’s ignored for years.

When Saida knocks on Kajinek’s door, he senses that she’s the partner he’s been looking for. He agrees to fly her ship under one condition; she must personally feed his darkest desires. Can Saida give in to what her body wants or will submitting sexually shatter the careful control she wields over the rest of her life?

Excerpt:

Kaj opened the door of his resort-class suite and nearly stumbled as a heady female scent hit him with tangible force. He’d yet to probe the mind of the woman who’d interrupted his quiet afternoon, but her submissive needs screamed at him, begging him to take notice. His cock hardened instantly.

Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a braid that reached her waist. He fought the urge wrap it around his hand and crush her against him. Her skintight flight suit left little of her body to his imagination. Her muscles tensed under his gaze, and her green-gold eyes studied him suspiciously. She reminded him of a feline preparing to spring. He could smell her desire. Apparently he was affecting her as much as she affected him.

“Kajinek of Lalatia?”

He nodded, not sure he could keep the predatory growl out of his voice.

“I’m Captain Saida Alexander of the Allied Mercenary Corporation ship the Ascendant. I’ve come to offer you a job.”

Kaj smiled. He’d heard of Captain Alexander. She was well respected as a hard-ass leader who always accomplished her mission objective. For a captain of her standing to show up unannounced at his personal quarters, she must be desperate for his help. This must be his lucky day. “Do come in.”

He pressed at the edges of her impressive mental shields and gleaned just enough information to confirm what was already clear to him. While he doubted anyone else realized it, Captain Alexander longed to find a man strong enough to dominate her. She was desperate for the release she could never find with a partner who refused to test the limits of her strong will.

He’d not met a woman this compatible for his needs since leaving Lalatia. And he wasn’t about to let her get away. Before this day ended, she would be his.

“Have a seat, Captain.” He gestured toward the plush chairs in the small seating area near the window, which overlooked the station garden. “I’ll order us some refreshments.”

The sexy captain moved through his quarters with silent, controlled grace. He suppressed a shudder of anticipation as he imagined how she would move under him as he thrust deep in her body. If he didn’t watch it, he wasn’t going to be able to focus on the business at hand. He’d take whatever job she was offering, but he doubted she’d like his terms.

He knew his smile must be particularly predatory when her eyes widened. By Varin, she was going to be a feast. “Would you like some coffee?”

She still looked wary, but now he saw a hint of a smile. “Real, honest-to-God coffee?”

He laughed. “Of course.”

“Yes, please.”

He walked to his comm unit and pressed down the button that connected him with the resort concierge. “Please send up coffee and an assortment of pastries immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

Captain Alexander smiled, briefly losing her controlled exterior and looking almost girlish. “You needn’t go to the trouble, but I do appreciate it. I haven’t tasted real coffee in months.”

Her joy at this simple gesture stirred something in him even stronger and more potent than lust. Hearing her cry out his name as he whipped her ass would be delicious. But satisfying her enough to bring that smile to her face might feed something more than physical hunger in him. The thought unnerved him but made him no less determined to have her.

He sat in the chair facing hers. “So you’re in need of a pilot?”

The captain nodded. “The last pilot I hired proved unsatisfactory. We have a job in three days. I’d like you in the pilot’s chair.”

“What is this job?” His sensitive ears heard her pulse accelerate. What was she up to?

“We will act as escort for three ships intent on sailing through the Rebel-controlled sector of Quadrant 16. They’ll appear to be private cargo ships, but they’ll be manned by Imperial Intelligence agents.”

Kaj snarled. “I don’t do Imperial jobs.”

Captain Alexander arched a brow and held his gaze. The delicious smell of her fear belied her confidence. “I’ve heard you’ll take any job as long as the price is right.”

He gestured at the opulent room. “Does it look like I’m in need of work?”

“Lovely as all this is, you don’t strike me as a man who likes to sit on his ass. I think you need to fly. I think you need the rush of danger.”

He smiled, knowing she could see the swirl of orange and yellow flames in his eyes, a sure sign of a Lalatian’s anger or lust. “I do enjoy a thrill, but I can get that right here. You seem like a rather dangerous woman.”

Anger flashed in her eyes. The scent of fear deepened.

The doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of coffee. Kaj was thankful for the distraction. His cock was harder than a steel rod, and he was close to pinning Captain Alexander to the wall and taking exactly what he wanted. His lack of control was appalling, but she was doing things to his libido that made him feel like a boy with his first trainer.

He took the tray from the delivery bot and poured coffee for the captain. As he handed her the mug, he let his fingers brush hers. He was rewarded by her sharp intake of breath.

The contact distracted her, and he felt her fear ease, supplanted in part by lust. He couldn’t help but smile as he sat down, taking a sip of the delicious, strong coffee he’d grown addicted to. “What’s Allied Merc doing working for the empire?”

She stared at him, her face revealing nothing of the emotions he could smell swirling around her. “Making money.”

He arched a brow. Something felt off. He tasted apprehension, and he was certain she wasn’t a woman to be unnerved easily. She would never have been made captain otherwise.

“We have no allegiance. We go where the money is. They want the best, and they’re willing to pay for it.”

Allied Merc might not owe anyone allegiance, but he damn well bet Captain Alexander did, and it wouldn’t be the empire. “Why?”

The captain shrugged. “That information is classified. But whatever will be on those ships is worth a hell of a lot to them.”

Kaj shook his head. “You can’t expect me to believe you’re guarding a ship without any idea what’s on board.”

“I don’t give a fuck what you believe as long as you do your job.” She handed him a nano tablet. “This contract should answer further questions. If you would like to contact me after you’ve had a chance to peruse it, I --”

“No. Stay. I would rather settle our business now.” He sensed that she was disturbed by the lust he stirred in her. No way in hell was he going to let her run away.

He read through the details of the contract, impressed by the sum she was offering him and more than satisfied with the level of responsibility he would have in the pilot’s chair. Now it was time to see how she would react to what he really wanted.

He passed the contract back to her. “A nice offer, but there’s only one thing that would tempt me to take an Imperial job.”

Captain Alexander raised her brow. “What might that be?”

“First, tell me what you know of my people.”

“Lalatians are born dominant or submissive, and you must feed on the energy of others.”

He nodded. “As a dominant, I feed on fear and pain and sex.” He paused a moment to drink in the torrent of lust and unease pouring off her. “Are you prepared to feed me?”

REMEMBER: Silvia will give away one download copy of Seduction of the Captain. How do you enter for a chance to win? Simply leave a comment for Silvia. Best wishes!

2011-07-21T14:01:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight

ANNE PATRICK

CONTEST: Anne will give away a PDF copy of A Familiar Evil to one lucky winner and will draw the name Sunday. To enter for a chance to win simply leave a comment for Anne. Best wishes!

AL: Hi Anne! Welcome to Blog Bites.

Anne: Thanks for having me Ann!

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Anne: Well I recently returned from visiting family and friends in Oklahoma. I try to make it back a couple of times a year but summertime is my favorite because of the cookouts and outdoor games.

AL: Tell us about a current or upcoming release.

Anne: My latest release is A Familiar Evil. I also have one coming out in August called Journey to Redemption.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Anne: I'm presently working on the second book in my Wounded Heroes Series. Kill Shot: Book One releases in November.

AL: When you write do you do a detailed outline before you get started or do you have the idea then just 'fly by the seat of your pants'? :-)

Anne: I'm a panster. I love not knowing what my characters will do next.

AL: What do you feel is the most important thing that a first-time author should know?

Anne: Don't be discouraged by rejections. We all get them. Stick with it, believe in yourself and what you've written, and never give up.

AL: Have you ever wanted to write your book in one direction but your characters wanted to go in another direction. What did you do in such a situation?

Anne: Oh yeah. I let them take the lead and see where it goes. All of my books are character driven so usually I'm just along for the ride.

AL: It’s time to get personal! You do a lot of traveling around the world. Where is your favorite place to visit and why?

Anne: I've been to both El Salvador and Honduras in Central America and fell in love with both the countries and the people. They're so genuine and down to earth, and I loved their beaches!

AL: Summer is here! What will the readers find you in; a bikini, one piece, or a full body wet suit diving into the waves?

Anne: Definitely a one piece

AL: Is there an author out there that you’d love to do an anthology with?

Anne: There are so many wonderfully talented writers out there it would be hard to choose. I have had the honor of appearing in two anthologies with Victory Tales Press and loved the experience.

AL: What’s your biggest regret in life?

Anne: That I didn't start my writing career sooner.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Anne: I plan to keep writing and hopefully land on the NY Times bestseller list. Hey when I dream I dream big :).

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Anne: "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." ~ Walt Disney

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Anne.

Anne: Thanks for having me on your lovely blog, Ann. It's been fun!

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Anne please visit:

http://www.annepatrick.weebly.com
http://www.suspensebyanne.blogspot.com

FEATURED TITLE: A FAMILIAR EVIL

Blurb:

Jordan Russell had the perfect life until the brutal monster from her childhood resurfaced, opening up scars she thought were healed. With the hope of finally finding closure Jordan leaves her cheating husband, and her career in the FBI, and returns to where her nightmare began. But what awaits her in Thorny Creek will push her to the very edge of sanity and bring her face to face with her abductor.

Excerpt:

Excuse me. I’m looking for Chief Russell.”

Jordan’s stomach did a nosedive at the familiar voice of her soon-to-be-ex-husband.

“You found her,” Frank answered.

Jordan looked up just as Sam smiled. “Indeed I have.” He started toward her desk.

Colleen barged through the opened door. “Chief, there’s an Agent Russell here to see…oh, I guess you found her.”

“Agent Russell,” Frank repeated. He turned back to Jordan, “Isn’t Russell your married name?” He then shifted his gaze back to Sam, “That must mean you’re her husband.”

“Not for much longer.” Jordan hurried around her desk and ushered Frank out the door. “You’ll be hearing from me.” She closed the door and looked at Sam. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here at your request.”

“I specifically requested someone from the Charlotte field office.” Anyone but him.

He looked at her with the gorgeous smile that used to make her go weak in the knees. “And they forwarded that request to Agent Haines, who assigned me.”

“We’ll see about that.” Jordan marched back to her desk, and was four digits into Haines’ cell phone number when Sam pressed his finger down on the button and disconnected the call. Eighteen and a half months of built-up rage boiled to the surface. She doubled her right fist and spun around with lighting fury.

Sam, just as quick, stopped the fist within inches of his jaw. With his free hand, he took the phone from her left hand and placed it back in its cradle. Jordan felt his hot breath on her face as he peered down at her, and was keenly aware of the heat generating from his body through the hand which tightened around her wrist.

“Let me help you, Jordan…please.”

She swallowed hard, summoned all her courage, and met his smoldering gaze. “I need a profiler who can tell me exactly what I’m up against here.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve lost your touch.”

She ignored his smirk. “I need a fresh pair of eyes who can look at this guy objectively.”

“Who hasn’t allowed themselves to get too personal?”

“I just need someone other than you,” she spat.

“Too bad, you’re stuck with me. Now, what do you say I release your hand and you don’t take my head off? Or we can continue to provide the day’s entertainment for your co-workers.”

Jordan shifted her gaze to the glass separating her office from the command center. A half dozen familiar faces scattered like rats. She twisted free from his grip, grabbed her cap from her desk and shoved it down over her head. “Fine!” She was already halfway out the door before she realized he wasn’t with her. She turned back and found him smiling at her. “Are you coming or not?”

REMEMBER: Anne will give away a PDF copy of A Familiar Evil to one lucky winner and will draw the name Sunday. To enter for a chance to win simply leave a comment for Anne. Best wishes!

2011-07-18T12:31:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

AMBER GREEN

CONTEST: Amber has a Khyber Run T-shirt to give away. She will draw her winner at the end of the week. To be entered simply leave a comment for Amber. Thanks and good luck!

AL: Hi Amber! Welcome to Blog Bites.

Amber: Thanks for inviting me back!

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Amber: Well, my older son is home from the Marines and looking to start college. My younger son is at tech school learning to repair aircraft. We're up to nine cats, having collected an abandoned little gentleman named Merlin. About two weeks ago, I found out that the US Marshals have a Violent Fugitive Task Force! As it turned out, the marshals who came in search of a former housemate were all Marines, and one of the first things they saw was my son's boot camp portrait. They spent a while chatting, probably trying to figure us out. They might also have been disarmed by my Clifford-sized pit bull; Baron is certain that the only reason anyone comes to our door is to play ball. Meanwhile I'm not bringing in enough royalties (yet) to replace my wardrobe with floaty stuff from The Pyramid Collection, I'm ticked off at Wal-Mart for discontinuing a line of shoes wide enough to fit my feet, and Governor Voldemort is messing with my day job.

AL: Tell us about a current or upcoming release.

Amber: My newest release is Khyber Run, a contemporary military romance, now available at Loose Id and at the Sony Reader Store. Zarak abandoned that Warrior Code crap long ago. Oscar personifies it. In a war-scarred land, two men fight for justice, honor, and who gets top.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Amber: Right now I'm working on a contemporary and a fantasy, both of which persist in ignoring my attempts to plot them out.

AL: If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?

Amber: For m/m, probably Golden Boys. It's loosely tied to the Turner & Turner series but not part of it. It's also my best approximation of a fluffy dick-lit beach read, even if both heroes do get shot.

AL: You write m/m and m/m/f in paranormal, contemporary, etc. Do you ever find it hard to move from one genre to another?

Amber: Not at all. Changing genres is a great way to circumvent writer's block.

AL: Do you have a mentor or critique partner that you work with consistently?

Amber: I have a crit group, ERA, which keeps me going when everything outside says stop and give up. I also belong to a group called WeWriteStuff, which focuses more on creativity than production. I call on other people here and there when I need to.

AL: It’s time to get personal! Who is a great example to you and how you live your life?

Amber: I wouldn't want to hang the blame on anybody for the way I live my life.

AL: When you have time just for you (if only) what do you do?

Amber: If that ever occurred, I'd probably spend it trying to remember my to-do list. Seriously, I hang out with my writing buddies and brainstorm or do Power Hour writing sprints. Or I throw a ball for the dogs and let them wrestle over which one gets to bring it back.

AL: If you had to write yourself as a villain, what kind of villain would you be? What would you be named?

Amber: How about an evil T'Pau, from the Spock-with-beard universe?

AL: If you could go anywhere in the world and in any time…where would you go? What would you do? And why that time-period?

Amber: It depends on how long I'd be there. If you're talking about a permanent relocation instead of a visit, how about Tahiti in the 1400s? It's isolated enough to decrease risks of plagues and invading armies, there's no snow to shovel, and it didn't get wiped out by a drought, volcano, earthquake, or tsunami.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Amber: Well, we're halfway through 2011 now, and very little has gone according to plan--sort of like my plotlines. My Man of Mystery story is simmering on a back burner, with only one chapter written, instead of being a complete draft ready to go through revisions. I've only learned to cook a handful of Pakistani dishes, and somehow my kitchen and pantry have failed to rearrange themselves according to plan. I hope to revamp my website pretty soon.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Amber: "We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965)

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Amber.

Amber: Thank you so much for asking. It's always fun to spend a few days at Blog Bites.
AL: If you’d like to find out more about Amber please visit:

www.shapeshiftersinlust.com
http://www.loose-id.com/Khyber-Run.aspx

FEATURED TITLE: KHYBER RUN

Blurb:

After being transplanted from an Afghani battleground to a Florida playground, Zarak Momand grew up trying to instill in his younger brothers the ancient Pakhtun Way. A generation later, he’s a burned-out US Navy hospital corpsman who has lost touch with his brothers and his heritage alike.

Then he’s kidnapped by USMC scout-snipers hell-bent on recapturing a deserter who murdered a brother Marine. Z uses Pakhtunwali to navigate the ambiguities of fourth generation warfare, where there are no front lines and where the moral high ground shifts from situation to situation. At his back stands Oscar, who is every bit the seasoned warrior young Zarak had once hoped to be.

Secretly crossing the border into Pakistan, Oscar and Z take help where they find it, and become more of a couple than either man has ever known. But is Oscar’s rough passion a betrayal between brothers? And what happens when the deserter would rather die than go back?

Excerpt:

I woke muddled, thinking the ship’s engines sounded wrong. Red light glared on my eyelids. Breathing meant gagging on the seagull-shit taste of a hangover. And that sound was not my ship’s engines. More like a sardine can’s engines or…a plane?

Opening my eyes took effort. A plane. From the rear of the fuselage, I faced up an aisle between rows of knees hugging sea bags. Not sea bags: MOLLE-packs. Red lights in strips overhead barely illuminated a couple hundred hunched forms in desert camo, a row of males in body armor along each bulkhead, facing inward, and two rows of females jammed into back-to-back seats in the center. Male or female, each of them clutched one of those carbines the sponges called an assault rifle.

What am I doing in a plane packed with camo-assed bullet-sponges?

The plane’s deck angled down sharply. Screams rang in my ears, going dull. My ears cleared, painfully, and the shrieks sharpened.

Crashing. That’s what we’re doing.

The deck roller-coastered up, then yawed faster than physics should allow. Whiplash. I saw stars. The stench of vomit wrung my empty guts.

A dive and another yaw brought more screams ringing off the bulkhead, prayer in Spanish close by, retching farther away.

How did I stay in my seat, with gravity halving and doubling and snatching me starboard to port? When the plane steadied long enough to let me look down, I saw bands of dull silver duct tape strapping my thighs to my seat, and another red-streaked silver band over my belt.

Something hung on my lower face. I had some kind of mask. No. Somebody had duct-taped a puke bag to my face. It sagged obscenely against my chin, like a giant used condom.

Pulling it off hurt. The stench blasted from it.

Where do I put this? I looked around, blinking, trying to make sense. The screamers in the middle seats were mostly army. The hundred or so men squatting in the seats lining the bulkhead were marines. Some laughed at the women. Others hunkered down, as if waiting for shrapnel to find them. A few threw curious glances at me, the only squid in sight.

A cluster of pops rapped at the bulkhead, like popcorn in my mother’s big pot. One of the sponges grinned at me. “Small arms fire. Welcome to Bagram.”

Bagram? A map of the giant air base flashed in my eyes, then a dim memory of riding my father’s shoulder, hiding my face in his turban while a trio of Shuravi—Soviets—stomped an ominously silent laborer. Couldn’t be…

“He means hold on,” added another sponge.

I dropped the puke bag to grab my seat. The plane tilted, again nose-diving but this time braking hard. Instead of falling to the deck, the bag shot forward, splatting against a female’s ear.

“I’m hit! Aaah!”

“God! Brains! Oh, God!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The plane swerved and jinked, each jerk redoubling the shrieks. The smell of fear, sharp and sour, fought with the smell of vomit.

One of the marines chuckled, despite the sweat beading on his face, and pitched his voice low enough to hear under the shrieks. “You know you’re going to have to police that up, Squidward.”

“No-go, sir. The doc’s our volunteer.”

Volunteer? WTF? I twisted to see who’d called me a volunteer, but his rifle caught my attention first. A bolt-action rifle. A sniper’s weapon.

Behind the rifle, teeth flashed in a grin. He didn’t seem to exist, except as a rifle, a hint of helmet, and a grin. Then the grin vanished.

The deck flipped overhead. The unsecured marines bounced, sending bellows among the screams. I hung from my seat, still taped in place.

The deck flipped again, then slammed up at us. A marine fell across my lap. I caught his weapon before it could bean him. The cool metal slapped into my hand, rousing memories like an old lover’s name.

REMEMBER: Amber has a Khyber Run T-shirt to give away. She will draw her winner at the end of the week. To be entered simply leave a comment for Amber. Thanks and good luck!

2011-07-11T09:28:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

JAMI DAVENPORT

CONTEST: Jami will give away an electronic copy of one of her older books to one lucky winner. Just leave a comment to be entered into the drawing. Best of luck!

AL: Hi Jami! Welcome to Blog Bites.

Jami: Thanks so much for having me here, Ann.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Jami: I’m enjoying the summer on our beautiful little farm in the Pacific Northwest. I’m an avid horsewoman, but my horse is no longer rideable. This is the first time in over 25 years that I haven’t had a horse to ride. I’m adjusting slowly.

AL: Tell us about a current or upcoming release.

Jami: My most current release is Fourth and Goal, a football hero romance I’m really excited about. If I have a book of my heart, this is the book. I’m a big football fan, and I wanted to write a different kind of football romance—not one where the heroine doesn’t like football or know anything about it and the football is just background stuff. I wanted to write a football romance that would appeal to female football fans as well as fans of romance.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Jami: I also write hotter, shorter works under another pen name. I just finished two books under that pen name and am almost done with the third. After that I’ll be finishing the sequel to Fourth and Goal, followed by a small-town romance I’ve been dying to write.

AL: When you write do you do a detailed outline before you get started or do you have the idea then just 'fly by the seat of your pants'? :-)

Jami: Mostly, I start with an idea and fly. That being said, I am doing a little more plotting than I used to because plotting is my weak point, while characters are my strong point.

AL: What do you feel is the most important thing that a first-time author should know?

Jami: Don’t polish your voice out of a story. I did that a lot when I first started writing.

AL: Do you have a mentor or critique partner that you work with consistently?

Jami: Yes, I have a couple. Dawn Calvert and Jodi Lynn Copeland. They’ve both been invaluable to me. Allie K. Adams and I plot together.

AL: It’s time to get personal! You love horse riding. Do you own horses? If so, what are their names and whose your favorite?

Jami: I have one horse named Gailey. Gailey is a very nice Hanoverian mare that I used to show in dressage. I bought her as an unbroke three year old. She’s now 16 and is going to be a mama for the first time next year. Due to some suspensory issues in her hind legs, I can no longer ride her. I’m hoping to buy another show horse next year.

AL: Your first book was named after a Garth Brooks song…Are you a big Garth Brooks fan? What other music do you like?

Jami: When I get an idea for a book, it’s as simple as hearing a song and thinking that would make a great book. The Dance was one of those books. I do like Garth, but mostly his older stuff. I love country, jazz, and rock.

AL: Is there an author out there that you’d love to do an anthology with?

Jami: Susan Elizabeth Phillips for the tamer stuff and Bella Andre or Jaci Burton for the naughtier stuff.

AL: Sometimes people envision an author’s life as being really glamorous. I like to set them straight, so tell us what’s the most unglamorous thing you’ve done in the past week?

Jami: Do you really want to know? I had to clean up cat vomit. I also scrubbed the refrigerator.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Jami: I’m working on Tyler’s story, Forward Passes, which is a hoot to write. After that, I’m starting my Small Town Saturday Night series, set in the small town in Eastern Washington that I grew up in. The first book will be based on a true incident a bartender told me about. It’ll give you chills to hear it.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Jami: A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend will be sitting right next to you saying, “Wow, that was fun.”

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Jami.

Jami: Thanks so much for having me, Ann. It’s been fun!!!

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Jami please visit:

Website: http://www.jamidavenport.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jamidavenport
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jamidavenport

FEATURED TITLE: FOURTH AND GOAL

Blurb:

In a game played on and off the field, only one of them will emerge the winner.

Armed with an uncanny ability for evaluating football talent, a dogged determination to succeed in a man’s world, and an empty bank account, Rachel McCormick agrees to help struggling wide receiver Derek Ramsey get his game back. Rachel believes Derek, her former best friend and lover, knows the truth behind the points-shaving scandal which ruined her father. She vows to expose the secret even if it destroys Derek in the process.

When Derek’s coach suggests sex as an excellent tension reliever the night before a game, Rachel takes one for the team. The next day, Derek has the best performance of his not-so illustrious pro football career.

As Derek and Rachel rack up nights in bed and other places, the team racks up wins on the field. Rachel is torn between her loyalty to her father and her growing affection for Derek. Now it’s fourth and goal, one second left on the clock. Their hearts are on the line. Do they trust each other enough to go for the long bomb or do they get dropped for a loss?

Excerpt:

Hiring the one woman he could never forget was a dumb-assed idea and the wrong play to run, but Derek Ramsey took the ball and ran with it anyway. Five years ago, his one-weekend affair with Rachel McCormick had tackled him for an emotional loss. She’d been his best female buddy, and he’d fucked up a good thing by following his dick instead of his brain. After battling a half decade of guilt and coulda-shouldas, he dreaded and anticipated this reunion.

She’d been employed as his caretaker and living in the little house next to his barn for a few days. He’d managed to avoid contact by taking an impromptu weekend visit to his dad and stepmom a few hundred miles away. But he couldn’t stay away forever.

Weary of postponing the inevitable, Derek walked down the driveway from his ranch house to the barn and small caretaker’s house. Pausing halfway down the hill, he whistled for backup. Consider him a coward, but his chocolate Lab would serve as a diversion if this reunion didn’t go well. Oddly, Simon didn’t come running. Derek shrugged. He must be chasing rabbits in the woods or something.

He’d have to go it alone. As he rounded the last bend in his driveway, Rachel McCormick stomped up the hill toward him.

Oh fuck. He knew females. He’d endured growing up with an older sister. Rachel had that close-fisted, furious carriage to her stride that meant only one thing: someone was going to die. Please, God, don’t let it be him.

Even as he planned possible escape routes, his male head perused her body and responded with a resounding thumbs-up, though it wasn’t really his thumb that was up.

The woman marching toward him with murder in her eyes barely resembled his tomboy buddy from his high school and college days. This Rachel wore a navy blue blazer with matching skirt and shoes, complete with manicured nails and makeup. The suit hugged her tall, lean body and accentuated her curves and straight-to-heaven legs. Long reddish brown hair was pulled back into a tidy ponytail. While he preferred the blue jeans and T-shirt version, this one was just as gorgeous and way more unapproachable. Don’t mess with me radiated from every pore in her body. Not a glimpse of the shy, sweet Rachel he had once known.

“Rachel, good to see you again.” Derek spoke calmly -- hoping to defuse the bomb -- and halted a few steps from her.

She didn’t return his small talk. Green eyes blazing, she scowled, as dangerous as a hand grenade with the pin pulled in the hands of a chimpanzee.

“Problem?” he asked conversationally and forced a pleasant smile on his face.

“Do you own a demon chocolate Lab?”

Derek barked a laugh and sealed his death sentence. Her expression went beyond homicidal. “I have a Lab named Simon. He’s opinionated and untrainable. It sounds like you’ve met him.”

“How long has he engaged in a life of crime?”

“Oh shit. What did he steal now?”

“My truck keys. My only set.”

“Oh.”

“Where is the little delinquent?” She glanced up and down the driveway.

“I called for him earlier. He didn’t come. I suspect he’s busy burying the evidence.”

“I missed a job interview because of that hoodlum.” Her laser-tight glare sliced through his defenses.

“I’m sorry. I could get you a cab.”

“It’s too late now.” She spoke through gritted teeth and visibly drew in a long, calming breath. A split second of uncertainty flashed across her face, peppered with a vulnerability that brought memories flooding back to him of the girl he had once known. Sweet Rachel with a passion for football and a kind word for even the most unworthy person.

He watched as she gathered her composure and hid behind an emotionless mask. “I still need my keys.”

“I doubt we’ll find them. He’s very good. A serial digger.”

“What do you expect when you name a dog Simon? It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.” She stared up the dirt road. “My keys could be anywhere.”

Derek didn’t hold out much hope. Dense woods surrounded the driveway on both sides. At the end of the woods was a large field, cross-fenced into several smaller grassy paddocks. It’d take an act of God to find her keys. He truly doubted the Big Guy considered such a trivial matter worthy of his attention.

“So Simon’s on your hit list along with me.”

“Right up there at the top.” No denial of his place on the list.

“Are you a member of AAA?”

She pointed down the driveway. “That’s my truck. What do you think?”

He knew what he thought. He thought her lips looked pretty kissable, even without lipstick or gloss. He thought she was the sexiest thing he’d seen in a long time. And he thought -- oh damn, every thought bordered on dangerous and impossible and stupid.

“Derek.” She stared at him as if she expected an answer, but he’d be damned if he could remember the question.

“Yeah?”

“I said I’ve scaled back on material goods and choose to live life simply.”

He raised one eyebrow, not buying that one. “Judging by the dents in the thing, you might want to part with a few bucks…for your own safety.”

“Harvey has character.” Her anger still simmered below the surface, and a stranger stared back at him with frosty green eyes. Still beautiful, but formal and cold. He liked her better mad.

Derek snorted. “Harvey looks like he escaped a life sentence in a wrecking yard.”

“He runs great.” Rachel squared her shoulders and stood up straighter. She gave him her most charming smile, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Look, champ, I’d love to stand out here and shoot the breeze with you, but I’m a busy woman. Your agent already discussed the particulars of the position with me.”

He imagined all sorts of particular positions he’d prefer to do with her. She’d feel pretty good in his arms right about now, all soft and warm. And then he’d take her to bed and bury his cock deep inside her. She’d scream and beg for more, just like one weekend so long ago. Derek shook his head. This line of thinking headed nowhere but trouble and stopped now.

“I’ll get you a locksmith.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll call one.”

Derek wiped sweat off his brow and shoved his hair off his forehead. Damn. Was she so oblivious to him that she wasn’t picking up on his thoughts? He hoped so. As far as money, he knew better than to offer any. She had her pride. He’d let her keep it. He knew how valuable pride was. Since college, his none too lustrous pro career had severely dented his.

A joyous bark caught his attention. Simon trotted down the road toward them. A stick hung from his mouth, and his tail wagged with enthusiasm. No sign of stolen goods. On his best doggy behavior, the felonious Lab sat down next to Derek, grinning for all he was worth and incredibly pleased with himself.

“Simon, meet Rachel. Rachel, meet Simon.” Simon thumped his tail on the ground and gazed up at her.

“We’ve met.” Rachel glared at the dog. Undaunted, Simon took it as a compliment and drooled on her foot.

“Rae, I’m sorry. He’s my dog. I’ll take care of this.”

“A dog-skin rug in front of my fireplace would be payment enough.”

“You don’t have a fireplace.”

“One small detail. I’ll build a campfire on the porch.”

“You’re a heartless woman.”

“Don’t you forget it.”

2011-07-07T09:20:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight

Deirdra Eden Coppel

AL: Hi Deirdra! Welcome to Blog Bites.

Deirdra: Hi! Thank you so much for inviting me.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Deirdra: Well, this summer my hubby is being a stay at home dad so I can work on my books. I have a private office at a secret location. My goal is to get five books written by September. I have three done so ahead of schedule.

AL: Tell us about a current or upcoming release.

Deirdra: I just had an article accepted in an international magazine. It was fun getting that acceptance letter and signing the contract. I was also asked to be a presenter at a large writer’s conference next spring.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Deirdra: I’m also a graphic designer, illustrator and writing coach. I’ve been presenting at workshops for writers and staying super busy with my illustrating and book cover business. My main project right now is getting those five books finished by summer’s end. Editing and querying take months, so I write another book while I’m waiting to hear back from editors and beta readers. I keep sending stuff out in waves to keep the progress flow constant.

AL: What is one glaringly/specific personality trait that you put into your hero/heroine that is all Deirdra? One that a family member or friend stops and says, “Hey, this is so you!"
Deirdra: She is a cat lover. LOL. My character is driven and determined. Hopefully that doesn’t sound too much like bragging, but I think all successful authors need to be driven and determined.

AL: How do you decide upon your settings? What about the names of characters? Do you ever change either mid-stream into a story?

Deirdra: My books are historical in nature. I usually research something in history until I find something that sparks a bunch of ‘what if’ questions. I research names and find out what they mean or pull something from history.

AL: What got you jumping feet first into writing fantasy?

Deirdra: Fantasy is a powerful way of teaching metaphors without being preachy. It was also one of the ways I escaped from reality when I was a child.

AL: It’s time to get personal! What’s your favorite comfort food?

Deirdra: Chocolate doughnuts, chocolate mint ice cream with hot fudge, cream puffs, Friday’s Brownie Obsession, strawberry cheesecake, carrot cake with extra frosting, ripe raspberries and black berries, truffles. Oh boy, you and your readers are going to think I’m a junkie. I hardly ever eat that stuff, really, I haven’t had a cavity in years. (knock-on-wood)

AL: What favorite movie; or T.V. show makes you hunker down on the sofa and settle in for the night?

Deirdra: Lately my family and I are watching old re-runs of ALF. I love a good Lord of the Rings and I get teary eyed while watching Princess Bride and Chronicles of Narnia.

AL: What is the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

Deirdra: I jousted – yep, on horseback. I wasn’t even wearing armor. I also hunted down a few zombies in the mountains. I had a baby, that was pretty rough, but I got a cute little boy out of the deal. I’ve written nine books, how crazy is that?

AL: If you could go anywhere in the world and in any time…where would you go? What would you do? And why that time-period?

Deirdra: Okay, I fantasize about this all the time. I wish I had a huge semi-truck and can take it back in time when the pioneers were crossing the plains to give them all a lift.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Deirdra: I’m getting an agent this year. I’m not sure who it is yet, but I’m getting one.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Deirdra: “We are what we believe we are.” C.S. Lewis

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Deirdra.

Deirdra: Thanks for a fun interview. You asked some really great questions.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Deirdra please visit:

www.Knightess.com
http://www.astorybookworld.blogspot.com/

2011-07-05T09:29:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

JUNIPER BELL

CONTEST: Since I just came back from RWA, I’ll give away a gift pack of fabulous books, hardcover and paperback, including books by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Madeline Hunter, and Meg Cabot. I’ll throw in a few other goodies from the conference too. All you have to do is leave me a comment!

AL: Hi Juniper! Welcome to Blog Bites.

Juniper: Hi Ann, it’s great to be here, thanks so much for having me!

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Juniper: At the moment I’m roaming the East Coast visiting family. I just attended the RWA conference in New York, which involved meeting tons of amazing authors, drinking gallons of coffee and getting no sleep. So now I’m catching up with family in Rhode Island and Maine, trying to squeeze in a nap here and there. I’m calling it the Sleep Deprivation Tour. It’s been lots of fun, but I’ll be glad to get home to Alaska.

AL: Tell us about a current or upcoming release.

Juniper: My current release is Restraining the Receptionist, which came out on June 14 from Samhain. It’s a follow-up to Training the Receptionist, which began the adventures of Dana Arthur and her two sexy bosses. This book takes their steamy three-way relationship even further, but you can enjoy the second book without having read the first.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Juniper: My next book, ironically, is called Go Deep. It’s set during a winter festival in Alaska with the motto, “Anything goes, nothing counts.” An amateur hockey coach and his wife seize the opportunity to break through some barriers into a much deeper intimacy. And once they do, they find out all sorts of things about each other. Go Deep is coming out from Ellora’s Cave, but I’m not sure when.

AL: When was the defining moment when you realized you wanted to be a writer?

Juniper: I’ve always expressed myself best through writing, but I didn’t try to be a fiction writer until about four years ago. I was going through a terrible time in my personal life and, as always during stressful moments, I turned to romance novels. In the middle of a Susan Elizabeth Phillips book it clicked that if I loved romance so much, I should try writing one. Shortly thereafter I realized it’s not as easy as she makes it look.

AL: What do you like best about writing? What is your least favorite thing?

Juniper: What I like best about writing is the writing. The real world so rarely matches what I think it should be. But when I’m at the computer writing, I can do something about that! I love creating a different world to spend time in for a while. And I love my characters. My least favorite thing is the worry about whether other people are going to like my creations.

AL: Who is your strongest/sexiest/most lovable/hottest - hero/heroine? Why?

Juniper: My favorite heroine is Dana Arthur from my Receptionist books. She’s a street-smart survivor who relies on her sense of humor to get her through life. She’s also deeply vulnerable, though she’s learned to hide it and rely only on herself. She has to learn to let down her barriers in order to find pleasure and joy.

AL: It’s time to get personal! Do you have a favorite sport, &/or team that you follow? I love football and my Missouri Tigers.

Juniper: I have an obsessive personality, and after an especially intense season of following the New York Mets baseball team, I quit cold turkey. I decided that my blood pressure couldn’t take it. I transferred all that obsession to the Olympics because it only comes around every couple years and only lasts two weeks. That’s my sports fix now. I tune out everything else. Does that sound crazy?

AL: Best movie you've seen recently?

Juniper: I loved Easy A. I loved her attitude, in fact she reminded me of a younger version of Dana. I put that movie in the same category as another of my favorites – Clueless. Easy A is a light, contemporary retelling of the Scarlet Letter, Clueless of Jane Austen’s Emma. Putting classic novels in the context of modern-day high school is a genius idea. I’ve found that high school keeps repeating itself over and over again, no matter how old I get.

AL: Where would you like to travel if you had the chance?

Juniper: Just about anywhere. I live in Alaska where the quiet and isolation is great for writing, but it can turn you into a hermit. I’m pretty much willing to go any place that isn’t cold and buried under six feet of snow. The tropics are at the top of the list.

AL: Do you have a top 5 actors list? You know that list of men that make you go yum, yum that would be inevitable, if only….

Juniper: In no particular order, Daniel Craig. LL Cool J. Bradley Cooper. Ewen MacGregor. George Clooney. George Clooney is on the bubble. His confirmed bachelor act is getting old – I’m ready to see him settle down. On the other hand, Daniel Craig broke my heart when he got married recently. Bradley Cooper is new to the list. But I don’t think I’ll ever let Daniel or LL Cool J go. They just do it for me.

AL: If you could have any car in the world; would it be a slow rider, or one that the wind has to hurry just to keep up with you?

Juniper: It would have wings so it could fly over traffic, and a paddle wheel for crossing water. It would be Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, in other words. I also really like the idea of jet packs for getting around town.

AL: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?

Juniper: I’m a big believer in the saying, “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey”. I want to keep having fun with my stories. I want to keep getting better at writing, keep finding more things to explore and try. I hope that readers will keep enjoying what I offer up.

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Juniper.

Juniper: It’s been a blast, thank you so much for the opportunity!

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Juniper please visit:

http://JuniperBell.com
http://AuthorJuniperBell.blogspot.com

FEATURED TITLE: RESTRAINING THE RECEPTIONIST

Blurb:

Every deal has a loophole …the Receptionist, Book 2

Dana Arthur’s new job with the firm of Cowell & Dirk is going well. Translation: the occasionally kinky ménage with her two bosses, Ethan and Simon, has been several months of politically incorrect bliss.

Except the relationship feels unbalanced. While Ethan is the undisputed master, the partners’ iron-clad agreement stipulates that Simon must be present as she performs her “duties”. And she senses there’s a subtle, powerful tug-of-war developing for more than just her body.

Simon had agreed to share the firm’s fiery, sensually daring receptionist…to a point. With Simon out of town, Ethan plans a feast of erotic temptations designed to have Dana begging him to break the deal. He didn’t realize his heart would be a casualty.

Once she surrenders to his wicked demands, Dana realizes there’s no going back. It’s time for a three-way renegotiation…this time, all or nothing.

Product Warnings

NSFW!! Do Not Try This at Your Job. Contains highly inappropriate workplace behavior including m/f/m, m/m, bondage, creative use of office space and a high-stakes trip to Atlantic City.

Excerpt: WARNING - NAUGHTY READ COMING UP!

My unpredictable number one boss showed up in a new mood the next day. I’d never seen him light-hearted before. Now that I had an idea about his history, not a big surprise. But that’s exactly how he seemed when he breezed into the office. He wore casual clothes, blue jeans and a light blue open-collared shirt that made his eyes look like summer without the smog.

“I’ve got no pesky clients today, luv,” he told me, without pausing by my desk to check my outfit, which he usually did. “I’d like you to order us a picnic lunch.”

“Huh?”

“Picnic. You have those in America, right? Or are they banned in the great state of New York?”

“We have them, but you can’t even spread out a blanket without kicking aside a stray used needle or two.” As soon as I said it I remembered the heroin. “I…I’m sorry,” I stammered.

But my thoughtless reference didn’t make him miss a beat. “A little local color will add to the experience, I’m sure. Handle the details and we’ll go around noon.”

Did a picnic violate the terms of our deal? Ethan and I would be doing something outside of work, just the two of us, something intimate. Almost like a date. But he hadn’t suggested anything physical. It was lunch. We both had to eat, right? It seemed perfectly harmless.

Since I was working from the company petty cash fund, I called up the neighborhood yuppie café where they served giant organic sandwiches. On my budget, I would have gone for a Subway footlong. But Ethan would no doubt demand something better.

We held our picnic on a concrete bench in a sweltering park a few blocks away from the office. Dog walkers and stroller-pushers, listless from the heat, wandered by now and then, but otherwise we were alone. The humid heat pressed on us like a steam iron. My hair stuck to my cheeks as I bit into my upscale sandwich.

Ethan didn’t comment on the slabs of free-range chicken that had probably been hand-raised and read bedtime stories before being slaughtered and inserted into a sandwich. He did remove the unruly mound of bean sprouts and toss it to a nearby pigeon. The pigeon pecked at the stuff, clucked scornfully and waddled the other direction.

I couldn’t help giggling at Ethan’s wounded expression. “I wouldn’t take it personally,” I told him. “He’s a New York pigeon. He’s used to eating dog crap.”

He chuckled. “Have you lived here your whole life, Dana?”

The sheer ordinariness of the question unnerved me. “Well, except for that semester abroad in Paris, and the year I spent in Fiji with the Peace Corps. I’m joking,” I added, when he didn’t laugh.

“Oh. Well, I’m certainly familiar with your sense of humor, but I confess I don’t understand the joke. You could have done those things.”

I let out a spurt of laughter that startled the pigeon. “I had other things to do.”

“Like what?”

“Like dodge my father’s fists after a drinking binge.”

“Ah.” Ethan didn’t show sympathy or disapproval or anything else. He chewed on his stack of multi-grain goodness. “And your mother?”

“No clue. My father always said she ran away, but for all I know he has her body dismembered in a freezer somewhere.”

That earned me a sharp taste of Blue Fury.

“I’m kidding. I have a dark sense of humor. My father’s not that bad. And my stepmother would have gone for poison instead.”

A crack of laughter from Ethan. “You really are something, you know that? You fascinate me.”

I filled my mouth with sandwich so I didn’t have to answer that. I was very much afraid the fascination was mutual. We settled into a munching, digesting kind of silence. He had one ankle crossed over the opposite knee, and occasionally his bent leg would brush against mine. Every time it happened, a little jolt of awareness zinged straight to my groin. Did he know it was happening? Was he doing it deliberately?

“Your knee keeps touching me.”

“Does it?” He didn’t move away.

“That’s against the rules.”

“So sorry.” But he didn’t look sorry. He looked entirely unconcerned, even though he moved his knee away. “One of these days we must write these rules down. For instance, is all physical contact forbidden while Simon is away, or only that of a sexual nature?”

Lord, why did he have to say “sexual” with that spark in his eyes and that slant of his eyebrow? It wasn’t fair, damn it.

“Another example. I’ve been longing to tell you how delicious you look today and how the shadow of your nipples through the fabric of your blouse keeps drawing my eyes. But is verbal praise also off-limits, since I’d be unable to keep it G-rated, I’m afraid?”

“You can’t see my nipples through my blouse!” I looked down to make sure.

“Oh, yes, I can. I know what they’re doing right now. They’re just beginning to stir to life. You’re probably feeling a pleasant prickling as they become engorged. I’ve realized something about you, you know. The sound of my voice has a powerful effect on you.”

So right he was. I tried to block out his voice. Might as well try to stop the Hudson River.

“In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I could bring you to orgasm just with my voice. I wouldn’t have to touch you at all. All I’d have to do is tell you what I wanted to do to you. I’d tell you how much I want to bend you over this bench and take you in the open air. Or how much I’d like to tie you to that birch tree over there, open your blouse and bring you to orgasm with my fist up your cunt. Sure, someone might see. For instance, those three fellows playing Frisbee over there. It’s entirely possible they’d start to notice when I tied your hands behind the tree and ripped off your blouse. Maybe they’d even come running to your rescue.”

His gravelly voice hypnotized me so I could practically picture the scene. My body melted into a shivery puddle of craving.

“And then, of course, I’d have no choice but to invite them to join us, either as witnesses or participants. They look like red-blooded, able-bodied, clean-cut gentlemen, nothing to fear. I’d have to convince them you were willing. More than willing. Eager. I’d have to show them how wet you already were, just from having your breasts exposed. You like being exposed, don’t you?”

“Stop,” I murmured. This was going into an area we’d never touched. Other men had had no place in our games so far.

As soon as I told him to stop, he did. And as soon as he did, I wanted him to start again. After all, what was the harm? He was going there in imagination only.

“Well…” I cleared my throat. “Would you let them touch my breasts?”

“I’d give them a chance, see how they behaved. Not just anyone gets to touch my Dana. Our Dana, I should say.”

I winced at the reminder of the absent Simon. But I was too caught up in Ethan’s hypothetical scenario to be bothered for long.

“Our Dana’s luscious nipples deserve nothing other than sweet tender care. Long, lingering suckles. Perhaps a man to each nipple, and one to jerk himself off as he watches. That should get you started, I’d say. You’d be making those adorable little whimpering sounds. But perhaps I’d begin to sense that you want more, that you need the grip of cold metal on your flesh.”

The image made my belly clench with need. My nipples were as hard as the bench we sat on. I thought I would suffocate if this went on much longer. I turned a pleading look on him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of nipple clamps.

This was way over the line, totally against our rules, but I banished that thought from my mind. I nodded, biting my lip. I didn’t care who watched as he reached inside my blouse and fastened the silver clips to my nipples. The sweet pain of it made me sag against him and sigh. Exquisite relief flooded me. I leaned against him as if he were a boulder. When I looked down, the clips were clearly visible through my blouse. But I didn’t care. Ethan would take care of me.

REMEMBER: Since I just came back from RWA, I’ll give away a gift pack of fabulous books, hardcover and paperback, including books by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Madeline Hunter, and Meg Cabot. I’ll throw in a few other goodies from the conference too. All you have to do is leave me a comment!

2011-06-22T09:48:00.002-05:00

Wednesday's Witty Words

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."

- Mae West

2011-06-15T08:18:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Witty Words

"Well-behaved women seldom make history."

- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

2011-06-10T09:05:00.000-05:00

Movie Phrase Friday

"I've always liked you Byron, but you never know when to shut up. Even bad men love their mommas."

Name that movie!

2011-06-08T09:28:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Witty Words

"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia."

- E. L. Doctorow

2011-06-02T09:05:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Witty Words...on Thursday?

"You know what's weird? Day by day, nothing changes, but pretty soon...everything's different."

- Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes

2011-05-31T09:28:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight

SHERI LEWIS WOHL

A walk on the wild side...

People often ask me why I write paranormal fiction. I have a career in federal finance and I go to the office every day. I belong to a triathlon club and participate in running, swimming, and biking events. Yesterday, I even did my very first half marathon and had a fantastic time. Yet, getting time in to write books seems like an awful lot of work and that’s what everyone asks me about. Sure, it seems like simply carving time out to write would be a chore. Except, it isn’t. Why? Because it’s fun!

Imagination is a wonderful thing and it takes me to places I’d never have the courage to go in life. It lets me see my world in new and creative—albeit admittedly weird—ways. It combines my activities with my imagination. For instance, I like to ride my bicycle home from work and as I ride, stories evolve in my head. My route home from the office is ten miles, the majority of which is through a beautiful state park. The plot for my upcoming novel, Burgundy Betrayal (number two in the Spiritus Chronicles), was born as I rode along the river through the hills lined with evergreens. As I a pedaled, what-if scenarios rolled through my mind until the book came together. Filled with werewolves, witches, and vampires, the park is a key element in Burgundy Betrayal.

Book one in the Spiritus Chronicles, Crimson Vengeance, came about after meeting a medical examiner. Of course, if you’ve read any of my books, you know I have a love of all things paranormal and so in Crimson Vengeance, the medical examiner is also a vampire! Again, it was the everyday world around me that provided the inspiration and let me take a walk on the wild side even if it was only through my imagination. How can I not find time for that kind of fun?

So, if you want to take a walk that wild side with me, pick up Crimson Vengeance, and we’ll make the journey together. Cheers!

www.sherilewiswohl.com
www.sherilewiswohl.wordpress.com
www.sheri26.blogspot.com

FEATURED TITLE: CRIMSON VENGEANCE

Blurb:

Love, desire, and secrets—a trail littered with murder and the choice one vampire will have to make that will seal her fate or set her free…

Spokane County Medical Examiner Riah Preston has a job to do and a secret to keep. Riah is a vampire and she’s on a mission to discover a cure for the very thing that has kept her a prisoner of darkness for over five hundred years. With the help of Moses Lake Coroner Ivy Hernandez and genetic scientist Adriana James, they are on the verge of a breakthrough. When victims of a rogue vampire begin to show up along the I-90 corridor, things get complicated. The appearance of vampire hunter Colin Jamison complicates the situation even further. Will they be strong enough to stop this vampire killer cutting a wide path of death and destruction? Or will the secrets Riah holds in her heart destroy them all?

2011-05-27T11:02:00.000-05:00

Movie Phrase Friday!

Okay you all! I looked hard for something that might be tougher to figure out.

Dad: Now, what have we learned today?
Daughter: I learned to never, never ask my dad a question he doesn't have the guts to answer.

Name that movie!

2011-05-25T09:10:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Witty Words

"It's a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing Milk Bone underwear."

- Norm from TV series Cheers

2011-05-23T08:34:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight

ZOE WINTERS

AL: Hi Zoe! Welcome to Blog Bites.

Zoe: Thanks for having me!

AL: What work are you deep into right now?

Zoe: Right now I’m working on book 3 of my Preternaturals series, which sadly doesn’t have a name yet. This is the longest I’ve gone without a title for a book. I might have to make it an open contest to name it if I can’t come up with something soon.

AL: What is one glaringly/specific personality trait that you put into your hero/heroine that is all Zoe? One that a family member or friend stops and says, “Hey, this is so you!

Zoe: The smart-assery. Most definitely. And if that’s not a word, I just made it a word. :P

AL: How do you decide upon your settings? What about the names of characters? Do you ever change either mid-stream into a story?

Zoe: I like smaller towns; they feel easier to manage, and they often have weird quirks which are fun to play with. I also like to write totally made-up places because I don’t want people who live in a place to go: “Hey there’s no coffee shop on that street corner!”

I’m awful about character names. Sometimes they just come to me, but usually I ask Twitter, lol. People on Twitter helped me name Zane (Z) and Fiona, the main characters in my next book. Z has to go by an initial because I’ve got too many rhyming names for major characters: Jane, Zane, Cain, Dayne. You can see where I need an intervention. And I try not to change those things, mid-stream. It’s too jarring for me.

AL: What got you jumping feet first into writing paranormals?

Zoe: The Buffy and Spike relationship on BtVS.

AL: It’s time to get personal! What’s your favorite comfort food?

Zoe: shepherd’s pie. It’s seriously the most perfect food ever created.

AL: What favorite movie; or T.V. show makes you hunker down on the sofa and settle in for the night?

Zoe: I really don’t have a TV. If I watch something it’s on Netflix Streaming or Hulu. And generally I watch in 15 minute increments. I just don’t have the attention span to sit and watch a full show, plus I’ve got too much to do. Though I will sometimes sit and watch a movie which completely contradicts my above statement. I’m wacky that way.

AL: What is the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

Zoe: I’ll let you know when I do it. :)

AL: If you could go anywhere in the world and in any time…where would you go? What would you do? And why that time-period?

Zoe: Far into the future. And anywhere, really. I just want to see if we’re still here and if we became really really stupid like in the movie Idiocracy (scariest movie I’ve ever seen) or if smart people started procreating again.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Zoe: Well, I’m on a ten-yr-plan and the plan is basically... write a lot of books. Keep making a living. Maybe get rich because that would be nice, and then I could write purely for passion exactly what I wanted instead of having to worry about if it would sell.

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Zoe.

Zoe: My pleasure!

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Zoe please visit:

http://www.zoewinters.org
http://zoewinters.wordpress.com
http://www.twitter.com/zoewinters

FEATURED TITLE: SAVE MY SOUL

Blurb:

All he’s asking for is her soul.

After buying the antebellum home she’s fantasized about since childhood, Anna Worthington discovers Luc, a dangerously seductive incubus who has been trapped in the house by a fifty-year-old curse. To rid herself of her problem house guest she’ll call on a priest, gypsies, ghost hunters, and the coven of witches from lust bunny hell. All she has to do is resist him long enough to break the spell so they can go their separate ways. If she doesn’t, she could die. And that would be the best case scenario.

Excerpt:

Instead of Beatrice, it was about the best looking man Anna had ever laid eyes on––airbrushed magazine spreads notwithstanding. Dark hair fell around his face, framing an olive complexion and cold, bright green eyes that appeared to burn with a light of their own.

They seemed to pull her in, hypnotize her. They were eyes that had known violence. Whether as the victim or the perpetrator, it was too hard to tell, but she suspected the latter.

His lips were as full as any man’s had a right to be, and Anna had to stop herself from imagining nibbling on his lower lip. He had the kind of cheekbones sculptors spent a lifetime learning to chisel into stone. Rather than sitting in the chair, he seemed to drape. Casually. Sinfully.

Shirtlessly.

She closed her eyes and raised a hand to her head, feeling for bumps. After what she’d just experienced the last thing that seemed normal was lusting after a hot stranger in her bedroom. Maybe she was dreaming again.

The next words to fly from her mouth were so stupid she would later blame a mild concussion. “You should know this house is haunted, and the last guy who tried anything got beaten bloody for his trouble. So you should ask yourself if it’s worth losing your good looks over.”

His deep, familiar chuckle slid into her, too fluid to be human. Anna vaulted out of the bed, taking the sheets with her, wrapping them around her frame as she went.

“I’ve seen it all,” he said waving a hand away as if he could never be moved by such banal things as nudity.

Not while I was conscious, Anna thought. She backed farther away as he stood and advanced on her. “Um . . . so Beatrice isn’t here?” Diversionary tactics weren’t her strong suit.

There never was a Beatrice. It was him. Her throat tightened again as that thought slammed fully into her brain. She tried to shut out the memories of all the times she’d been a little too naked in the house, either ignoring the ghost or thinking it was a woman.

A slow smile spread over his face. “I’m the thing that killed her.” Fear pulsed through her at his words, and he seemed to savor it like wine. “Beatrice went to Heaven where all good girls with intact souls go when they die. Tell me, my dear, do you think your soul will be intact when I’m finished with you?”

2011-05-20T08:26:00.000-05:00

Add caption

Movie Phrase Friday!

"In my world, everyone's a pony and they eat rainbows, and poop butterflies!"

Name that movie!

2011-05-18T09:08:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Witty Words

"My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure."

- Abraham Lincoln

2011-05-16T08:37:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

ALAN NAYES

CONTEST: Alan Nayes will be giving away a free copy of his biomedical thriller THE UNNATURAL to one lucky commenter. Good luck!

AL: Hi Alan! Welcome to Blog Bites.

Alan: Hi, Ann, thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Alan: I’ve recently purchased some land in rural Texas and I’m working on renovating an old ranch house. It’s taking some time but it’s fun to see the progress and who knows—one day I may just spend a month or two there and write a book. A month or two? I only wish I could write a novel that fast.

AL: Tell us about a current or upcoming release.

Alan: BARBARY POINT is my current release and the story is now available on the Amazon and Barnesandnoble websites. BARBARY POINT is a love story that involves a woman who flies back to Wisconsin to close out her father’s estate and ends up falling in love with a fishing guide. Even for those who aren’t keen on fishing, I think the story will “hook” you. I know—not funny.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Alan: HEMLOCK POND. I jump genres here away from romance directly into the realm of horror. HEMLOCK POND is about a woman and her young son who move into an old farmhouse with a haunted pond on the property. Um…sounds a little like my property. Uh-oh.

AL: When was the defining moment when you realized you wanted to be a writer?

Alan: No defining moment for me, Ann. But more a bunch of small moments—a creative writing class years ago, writing some music in college, and then some screenplays later and finally the eventual publication of my first novel GARGOYLES.

AL: What do you like best about writing? What is your least favorite thing?

Alan: Best—editing. Worst—trying to hammer out that first draft. Some days I’d rather go to the dentist than try to fill up a blank page with words. Not really, but it doesn’t always come easy. Wish it did.

AL: What is the strangest source of writing inspiration you’ve ever had?

Alan: That’s a tough one. I wish I could come up with something really bizarre but it would all be fiction. I must be boring because most of my inspiration comes from simple things I experience in everyday life—newspaper articles, books, dealings with people. My inspiration for BARBARY POINT came from a cottage my family owns on Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin. I travel up there several times a year and have always thought this would be an ideal locale for a love story. Or if no love showed up, at least relax and fish!

AL: It’s time to get personal! Do you have a favorite sport, &/or team that you follow? I love football and my Missouri Tigers.

Alan: Easy, easy, easy. The Superbowl champs—Green Bay Packers. Have always loved them ever since the days of Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Willie Wood, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, all of ‘em. Aaron Rodgers will be another great one.

AL: Best movie you've seen recently?

Alan: I don’t see many movies but one I did watch in the theaters was Avatar—pretty impressive.

AL: Where would you like to travel if you had the chance?

Alan: Three places I want to see—Antarctica, Hawaii—can’t believe I haven’t been there yet, and some island in the South Pacific—still deciding which one. Have been to my first two choices—the Amazon and the Galapagos Islands. One day I’d like to climb Kilimanjaro. Better train some first.

AL: If I asked your best friend what type of person you are, what would he or she tell me?

Alan: Hardworking, honest, dedicated, great sense of humor, did I say intelligent, witty—oh, you wanted her opinion, not mine. Sorry. “He spends too much time at his computer.” Hey, I swear that one big story’s in me somewhere.

AL: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?

Alan: Big goal—land one of my stories on the New York Times bestseller’s list.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Alan: My favorite movie quote is from The Flight of the Phoenix—“Mr. Townes, you behave as if stupidity were a virtue.” Sometimes I feel that way when I’m staring at that half finished paragraph.

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Alan.

Alan: Thank you, Ann. It really was a pleasure.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Alan please visit:

Website: http://anayes.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Alan-Nayes/125860424139928
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/alannayes
Alan Nayes Blog: http://www.alannayes.blogspot.com/

FEATURED TITLE: BARBARY POINT

Blurb:

When Kelly English flies back to Oshkosh,Wisconsin, to close out her father’s estate, the last thing on her mind is falling in love. Again. Kelly is twenty-eight and engaged to an older man who is quite wealthy. She’s happy, and only desires to make the trip back brief, sell her deceased father’s place, and return to her stable life in Los Angeles. However, while taking care of business in Oshkosh, Kelly meets a fishing guide.

BARBARY POINT is Kelly’s story of what happened that one magical week in May on the shores of Lake Winnebago when the ducklings hatch and the walleye run.

Exerpt:

Mother always reminded me, Kelly, love from the mind is nothing more than a pleasurable arrangement, whereas love from the heart lasts forever.

I had listened to these same exact words beginning in junior high, again in high school, and throughout college. And it always worried me I might not be able to tell the difference.

A man I deeply loved once told me that a fish lunges after an artificial lure solely on instinct. He sees it, wants it, and zappo, he‘s hooked.

Love is a lot like that. You see someone you want, the chemistry is there, and zappo, you‘re hooked.

REMEMBER: Alan Nayes will be giving away a free copy of his biomedical thriller THE UNNATURAL to one lucky commenter. Good luck!

2011-05-11T10:13:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Witty Words

“If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.”

– Unknown

2011-05-10T10:52:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight
CORA ZANE

CONTEST: Cora Zane is giving away a glitter heart magnet set, and a goodie pack with bookmarks and a cute pin back button, to one lucky reader. Make sure to leave a comment along with your email addy so Cora can contact you if you win. Good luck!

AL: Hi Cora! Welcome back to Blog Bites.

Cora: Thank you for having me.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Cora: It’s pretty crazy here, but that’s nothing unusual. I’m on a very short deadline right now, and at the same time, I’m trying to rearrange my office for a new computer before my laptop goes belly up. My family is looking at a necessary trip to D.C. in the near future, and we’re trying to rearrange our schedules to fit that in. Also, author Keri Ford and I will be giving a workshop on e-publishing at Bossier Parish Community College in June. This is in conjunction with our local RWA chapter - www.nolastars.com – so I’m preparing for that.

AL: Would you like to tell us about a current or upcoming release?

Cora: I’m currently in the process of wrapping up Wicked Obsession, which is an erotic vampire novel, and the official sequel to the first vampire novella I ever wrote – Wicked Temptation. With any luck, it will be available through Cobblestone Press in the next few months.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Cora: I’m in the process of repackaging a previously published story called At the Edge of Twilight. I intend to take that title, and add it in with six other erotic fairytales to create a full length erotic faerie tale collection. I’ll be putting the volume up for sale on both Smashwords and Amazon once I have everything put together and formatted, probably sometime around late September.

I’m also working on an erotic, horror-romance story, that I intend to submit to the new Shivers line at Ellora’s Cave.

AL: When you write do you do a detailed outline before you get started or do you have the idea then just 'fly by the seat of your pants'? :-)

Cora: I plot heavily and do a lot of pre-writing before I ever start writing a first draft. I don’t outline quite the way I used to. I find it saves me time, and I don’t end up having quite so much to rework later on, if I have the major mid-story crisis figured out before I write the first few scenes.

AL: Have you ever wanted to write your book in one direction but your characters wanted to go in another direction. What did you do in such a situation?

Cora: When I first started writing, I had that problem a lot. I’d have a general idea of what I wanted my story to be, and usually one or two scenes in mind, but I didn’t always know how to get my characters to go from point A to point B. I think that had a lot to do with not planning far enough ahead into a story before I started writing it. Now, I make sure I understand each character’s individual goal before I ever start writing, and make sure I have an overall story goal that unifies the characters in some way to keep them all on track. It’s much easier to figure out where your characters are going if you know where you need them to be by the end of the book.

AL: If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?

Cora: I have several free reads on Smashwords, and I usually direct people over there first. My short story Heart Spell is a reader favorite. I often tell interested readers if they like the free stories I’ve posted, they’ll probably like my Werekind Series books, which are available at Cobblestone Press. Even though Dominant Territory is smack dab in the middle of the series, I tend to recommend it before the other books just because it’s my favorite.

AL: It’s time to get personal! What annoys you enough to be considered a pet peeve?

Cora: Well, my husband and friends tease me about being an earthy girl because I let the small stuff slide. It doesn’t bother me much if someone gets my name wrong or makes an awkward faux pas. It doesn’t bother me all that much if someone has stinky feet, or if they munch carrots on the phone while talking to me. It has to be a pretty nasty situation for me to consider it a pet peeve. Spitefulness is a big turn off; the same goes for disrespecting others. I think mean people in general are my pet peeve. People who never seem to have anything good to say about anyone else – I’m usually looking for an exit when I get stuck with someone like that.

AL: What are you reading in your spare time?

Cora: Lately I’m reading a mix of craft books and fiction in my spare time. If I get even ten spare minutes, I’ll pick up a book and read a few paragraphs. I’m currently reading Zombie Tramp by Dan Mendoza, which is a graphic novel. And I just finished Long Slow Burn by Isobel Sharp a few days ago. Before that, I read Beastly by Alex Flinn, which is a really cool YA beauty and the beast type book. Next up on my TBR stack is Ghost Stalker by Jenna Kernan, which is a Harlequin Nocturne. Oh, and through all this, I’ve been spot reading a book about negotiating contracts, but I can’t think of the title or the author’s name right off hand.

AL: If you could meet someone famous in either history, or present day…who would you like to meet and why?

Cora: Someone famous… That’s hard to say. I think it would be fun to see what Anne Rice has on her Nook or Kindle. Too, I always thought it would be fun to go through Stan Lee’s attic if he has one. If he does have an attic, I bet he’s got some really cool stuff up there.

AL: You have to ask a fictional character out on a date—who would you ask and what would you do together?

Cora: Haha! That’s great… I’d probably want to go out on a date with Jack Sparrow just because he’s that wacky kind of character you could see yourself waking up next to in a jail cell the following day. It would be a hoot to go with him to Mardi Gras.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Cora: Well, I took most of last year off to hone my craft. I did a lot of studying and test writing. Now, I’m trying to tie up loose ends and be more productive, but it’s not always easy. I hope to have a new Werekind story finished by the end of the year if my schedule allows it. Next year, I’d like to have my plate cleared as far as any contractual obligations go, so I can work on something brand new. I’d really like to put out more single title work in the future.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Cora: “Plan your work, and work your plan.” That’s actually from a fortune cookie, so I don’t know the author. It’s practical advice, though. I think that’s why I like it so much. Just for the sake of saying so, I have that fortune cookie slip taped to the printer in my home office.

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Cora.

Cora: It’s been a pleasure. :o)

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Cora please visit:

Cora’s Website: www.corazane.com. You can also find her on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and her personal blog: http://corazane.blogspot.com.

FEATURED TITLE: CONNECTION

Blurb:

Gage is a cyber vamp, an AI being who feeds off energy, sexual and otherwise. Kiri loves that they can feel each other’s pleasure during sex…during those electric moments when Gage slips his fangs into her neck ports.

Kiri knew from the start Gage wanted a no-strings relationship. But she hadn’t realized his bite would grant him full access to her heart. Didn’t count on being so lost to pleasure that she lets loose her innermost desire. Now Gage knows her secret, and Kiri can’t bring herself to face him.

But Gage has a secret of his own. He’s found more than sexual satisfaction with Kiri. He’s discovered the ultimate connection—and he’ll prove it the second he’s back in her bed.

Excerpt:

“You’re more than welcome to join us,” Adam offered. Once again his gaze settled on her neck ports, and she shivered at the way his gaze caressed her like a physical touch. As androids, cyber vampires fed off sensual energy rather than blood. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind what this one wanted from her.

With his card tucked between his fingers and his arm resting on the back of the booth again, he created a space near the edge for her to sidle in next to him if that was her wish. “Interested?”

“Um, thanks, but…” Kiri just shook her head.

He’s not Gage. Fucking him won’t fix things.

She hated herself for having to rationalize it.

Ignoring the way her clit throbbed, she tucked the serving tray under her arm and left the suite in an effort to distance herself from the temptation. Once outside, she shut the door behind her and headed down the glass walkway that ran all the way around the cylinder-shaped club, connecting the circle of third-floor suites overlooking the main club area. A discreet stairwell tucked farther down the walkway spiraled behind the inner walls of the building, connecting the multiple levels.

As Kiri reached the stairwell, she stopped to look out over the glass riser edging the walkway, gazing down at the light show that pulsed and flickered over the dance floor. Instead of going straight down to check in at the bar, she stepped back into the shadows of the tiny third-floor landing and pressed her back against the wall on the other side of a waist-high vase of peacock orchids.

The music vibrated through her, the booming bass matching the desire throbbing through her body. Her inner thighs were slick with cream, her cunt aching for a man’s attention. She couldn’t get her mind off the scene in the suite. Kiri clamped her eyes shut tight, her conscience turning over the many reasons why she shouldn’t—why she wouldn’t—accept the blond man’s offer. There were many, but still her body nagged her for release. Craving a quick climax, she glanced off to the right, around the large plume of flowers, to see if anyone was coming up the stairs and saw no one. She was alone.

Heart galloping, her skin tingling with urgent need, she slipped her hand beneath her skirt, hesitating when her fingertips grazed the edge of her panties.

She wondered if she was far back enough from the glass riser to prevent anyone from looking up and seeing her. Were the shadows dark enough for true concealment?

To hell with it. Getting caught seemed a much lesser punishment than going unfulfilled.

REMEMBER: Cora Zane is giving away a glitter heart magnet set, and a goodie pack with bookmarks and a cute pin back button, to one lucky reader. Make sure to leave a comment along with your email addy so Cora can contact you if you win. Good luck!

2011-05-04T10:49:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Witty Words

"Some people go through life trying to find out what the world holds for them only to find out too late that it's what they bring to the world thar really counts."

- Anne of Green Gables

2011-04-29T08:45:00.000-05:00

Movie Phrase Friday

“You’re the weak one. And you’ll never know love, or friendship. And I feel sorry for you.”

Name that movie!

2011-04-28T08:21:00.000-05:00

Honey Badger don't give a s**t!

Check out this link on youtube:
http://youtu.be/4r7wHMg5Yjg

Ann

2011-04-27T11:51:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Witty Words

"There are very few jobs that actually require a penis or vagina. All other jobs should be open to everybody."

- Flo Kennedy

2011-04-25T12:56:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

DIANNE DUVALL

CONTEST: Dianne will give away a signed copy of Darkness Dawns to one commenter. International commenters are fine too. She'll be using www.random.org to choose the winner at the end of my week. To get in on the contest just answer this simple question in comments: If you could possess any special gift or ability (telepathy, teleportation, healing with your hands, etc.), which one would you want? Good luck!

AL: Hi Dianne! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Dianne: Hi Ann! Thanks for having me! It’s great to be here!

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Dianne: Well, when I’m not writing, I work in the independent film industry. Right now I’m working post-production on a horror feature film, adding special effects and cutting a trailer. On the home front, I’ve been doing some gardening, one of my favorite pastimes, and getting a late start on planting a vegetable garden.

AL: Would you like to tell us about a current or upcoming release?

Dianne: I would love to. Thanks. My debut novel Darkness Dawns was released in February 2011. The first book in my Immortal Guardian paranormal romance series, it was deemed a Top Pick by The Romance Reviews and a Best Book by Long and Short Reviews. In it, Music Theory Professor Sarah Bingham wants nothing more than to relax after a long, stressful spring semester. Instead, when insomnia drives her to spend a little time in her garden at dawn, she finds a wounded man staked to the ground, being tortured by two others. Little does she know when she rescues him that Roland Warbrook is far more than a man. Nearly a millennium old, he is an immortal who has acquired a new formidable foe amongst the vampires he hunts, a foe who has raised an army to defeat him and to destroy the rest of the Immortal Guardians. When Sarah thwarts the vampires by saving Roland, she too becomes targeted by the army and is thrust to the forefront of the conflict, aiding the immortals in their quest to defeat the vampires and losing her heart to the dark enigmatic warrior intent on protecting her.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Dianne: I just finished the edits for Night Reigns, the second book in the series, which revolves around Marcus Grayden, an immortal who recently lost a woman he loved for eight centuries. Cocky on the outside, grieving on the inside, he skates the edge and takes far too many risks. When Marcus’s increasingly erratic behavior draws unwanted concern from his immortal brethren, the leader of the Immortal Guardians attempts to divert him from this destructive path by assigning Marcus a new Second (human assistant) . . . one who proves to be immensely distracting and turns his world upside down.

I’m also currently delving into the third book in the series, but haven’t yet given it a title.

AL: What was the defining moment when you realized you wanted to be a writer?

Dianne: The first inkling came when I wrote a teen historical romance when I was thirteen or so. But I would say the defining moment came when I majored in journalism in college. Conducting interviews and writing articles just wasn’t making me happy the way I had hoped it would and led me to rethink my chosen course. I loved reading romance novels and had so many ideas for my own swirling around in my head that I just felt I had to follow that path instead, gave it a try and am so thrilled that I did.

AL: When you write do you do a detailed outline before you get started or do you have the idea then just 'fly by the seat of your pants'? :-)

Dianne: I fly by the seat of my pants. I tried the outline route once and spent days constructing a very detailed outline for my first novel. But, once I began writing, the story unexpectedly took off in another direction I liked far more and I ended up abandoning the outline. I felt like I had really wasted a lot of time outlining the book that could’ve instead been spent writing, so I never outlined again. Now I usually have the beginning, middle and end in mind when I sit down to start a new novel and let the rest come as it may.

AL: It’s time to get personal! The Oscars have come and gone – What’s the best movie you've seen recently?

Dianne: Hmmm. I haven’t been terribly thrilled with the movies that have been released in recent years. For drama, I really liked Inception with all of its intricate plotting. That one took a lot of thought to write. I found The Crazies to be a good horror film, also well-written with good directing, acting and scoring. Salt was a surprisingly good action film. Unstoppable was, too. You don’t see many action films today that aren’t green-screened to death, so Unstoppable was a proverbial breath of fresh air. And for romance, I’ve been enjoying the Twilight series.

AL: Sometimes people envision an author’s life as being really glamorous. I like to set them straight, so tell us what’s the most unglamorous thing you’ve done in the past week?

Dianne: Clean the bathrooms. I actually wondered as I did so if seeing their favorite authors scrubbing toilets would be a bit of a let-down for readers. :-)

AL: If you could have any car in the world; would it be a slow rider, or one that the wind has to hurry just to keep up with you?

Dianne: I would definitely want one the wind had to chase. I freely admit to having a lead foot. :-)

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Dianne: My greatest plans revolve around the release of Night Reigns on December 6th this year. I’ll be planning a big Blog Tour with lots of contests and giveaways to celebrate and promote it. I’m also going to be participating in the Brenda Novak Annual Diabetes Auction in May and hope you’re followers will drop by bid on items. Some other events I’ll be taking part in are the Bookish Haven Summer Vacation and the Sizzling Summer Reads Party at The Romance Reviews.

As for next year and beyond, I intend to continue my Immortal Guardians series and see what develops as the immortals endeavor to discover the truth behind their existence, encounter new beings as powerful as they are themselves and face increasingly complex challenges spawned by an escalating number of formidable foes.

AL: What do you find sexy in a man?

Dianne: Intelligence. Respect for my own intelligence is a close second. That’s one of the things I like about Roland, the hero of Darkness Dawns. While he’s an attractive, intelligent alpha male, he admires Sarah’s intelligence, not just her beauty, and lets her make her own decisions rather than ordering her around and taking those choices away from her in his attempts to protect her.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Dianne: “Beautiful, brave and possessed of violent tendencies. I like her.” ~ Marcus, friend to Roland in Darkness Dawns

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Dianne.

Dianne: Thank you for the opportunity and for the great interview. I enjoyed it.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Dianne please visit:

Website: http://www.DianneDuvall.com
Blog - The Immortal Realm: http://dianneduvall.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000816605112
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DianneDuvall

FEATURED TITLE: DARKNESS DAWNS

Blurb:

Once, Sarah Bingham’s biggest challenge was making her students pay attention in class. Now, after rescuing a wounded stranger, she’s landed in the middle of a battle between corrupt vampires and powerful immortals who also need blood to survive. Roland Warbrook is the most compelling man Sarah has ever laid hands on. But his desire for her is mingled with a hunger he can barely control . . .

In his nine centuries of immortal existence, no woman has tempted Roland as much as Sarah. But asking her to love him is impossible -- when it mean forfeiting the world she’s always known, and the life he would do anything to protect.

Excerpt:

Roland awoke as the sun was setting, his body wracked with pain. It took several minutes of intense concentration before he was able to distance himself from it enough to open his eyes and take in his surroundings.

The television was on, tuned to a news channel, the volume low.

He was lying on his back on the futon, his left leg bent at the knee and resting against the cushioned back. His right leg was stretched out with his foot hanging off the end. What utterly astonished him and nearly made him forget the pain, however, was Sarah, who was sprawled atop him, peacefully ensconced in slumber.

Her cheek was pillowed by his chest. Emitting a pleasant citrus scent, her hair again clung to his stubbled jaw and fell across his shoulder in curly disarray. One of her small hands loosely clutched his shoulder. The other was tucked into his side. Her full breasts warmed his stomach. Her hips rested against his groin, arousing him despite his discomfort.

Damn, but it felt good.

Giving in to temptation, he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her silky hair.

She stirred, her hand tightening on his shoulder as she snuggled closer, then fell still.

He hadn’t slept with a woman in the literal sense in over nine centuries, refusing to let down his guard enough to experience such intimacy as this. Not even with Mary, who had feigned such devotion. He had obeyed the proprieties when he had courted Mary and, fearing her reaction when she found out what he was, had never left himself so vulnerable.

But Sarah didn’t know what he was and he had no intention of telling her. He didn’t want to see the same loathing in her eyes that had darkened Beatrice’s or the fear that had widened Mary’s.

To Sarah, he was just a man.

His body hardened even more when he remembered the way her heartbeat had sped up at his touch.

Her pulse was slow and steady now, the blood in her veins calling him to come and satiate his hunger. As he listened to the steady thrum of it, his own heart began to pound.

Roland slid one hand up her back, tunneling through soft, thick curls, and rested his fingers upon the satiny skin of her neck just over her pulse.

What would she taste like? Sweet like her smiles? Or spicy like her daring spirit?

Would drinking from her merely dull the pain? Or would it set him aflame?

His body was struggling to heal itself. The need for blood clawed at him.

Roland felt his fangs descend and lengthen.

Just one taste. Sarah is sleeping. She need never know.

REMEMBER: Dianne will give away a signed copy of Darkness Dawns to one commenter. International commenters are fine too. She'll be using www.random.org to choose the winner at the end of my week. To get in on the contest just answer this simple question in comments: If you could possess any special gift or ability (telepathy, teleportation, healing with your hands, etc.), which one would you want? Good luck!

2011-04-20T09:07:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

Linda LaRoque

CONTEST: Linda will give away and ecopy of her time travel romance set in 1880s Waco, Texas, My Heart Will Find Yours. Just leave a commet to be entered in the drawing. Good luck!

AL: Hi Linda! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Linda: Thank you for having me here, Ann, and giving me the opportunity to talk about my newest release.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Linda: My husband and I just returned from west Texas where I attended a writer’s retreat. While there, a fire erupted west of Marfa where we’d spent Thursday night and by Saturday the blaze, due to high winds, was out of hand. Sunday morning we learned 25 homes in the Ft. Davis area were destroyed. As we left Alpine, we noticed another fire and drove toward home with smoke in our rearview mirror. There are other fires around Texas. We’re so dry here and desperately need rain.

AL: Please share with us about a current or upcoming release.

Linda: A Way Back, my time travel set in 1930s oil fields of Texas, was released in January 2011 by Champagne Books.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Linda: I just finished a sequel to A Law of her Own, a time travel set in 1888 Prairie in the Texas Panhandle. It’s called A Marshall of Her Own. Investigative reporter Dessa Wade journeys to Fredericksburg, Texas to investigate the disappearance of a young lawyer. Dessa is thrust back in time to 1890 and into the camp of the Faraday gang. This manuscript is being considered by a publisher as we speak.

I’m in the middle of a romantic suspense set along Route 66 in New Mexico. It’s been a new adventure for me and a real learning experience.

AL: What is the strangest source of writing inspiration you’ve ever had?

Linda: A dream about a woman frozen in an iceberg.

AL: Why are Western Romances so close to your heart?

Linda: I love Texas and other areas in the mid-west. From an early age I watched westerns on television and at the movies and often wondered what it would be like to live in that era. What would I be—farmer’s wife or a dance hall girl? Of course, I didn’t have a clue what a dance hall girl really did for a living. I enjoy reliving the old west through my writing.

AL: What do you feel is the most important thing that a first-time author should know?

Linda: Be patient, keep writing, learning, and submitting your work. Don’t give up.

AL: It’s time to get personal! What would people be surprised to know about you?

Linda: Hmm, I don’t know. Oh, I do too. I was dragged from a horse when a teenager and didn’t get on one again for thirty-five years.

AL: If I asked your best friend what type of person you are, what would he or she tell me?

Linda: That I’m loyal and easy going.

AL: What type of music do you relax to?

Linda: Classical.

AL: In your next life, if you came back as a critter, what would it be?

Linda: A horse or dog.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Linda: I would love to visit Ireland, Scotland, and England plus several states in the west. As far as writing, I’d like to write another Route 66 romantic suspense and another Prairie, Texas time travel.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Linda: "Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness."

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Linda.

Linda: Thank you, Ann. It’s been a pleasure to be here and share my work.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Linda please visit:

www.lindalaroque.com
http://www.lindalaroqueauthor.blogspot.com

FEATURED TITLE: A WAY BACK

Blurb:

Amber Mathis, a Wall Street investment banker, returns to her office after burying her mother. Distraught, tired of the rat race, she's determined to make a career change. In the elevator she falls and rises to find herself in a vintage lift. The date is February 25, 1930, and a man stands on the window ledge ready to jump.

Wellman Hathaway, owner and CEO of Hathaway Bank in New York struggles to pay his depositors half their losses. A woman claiming to be from 2009 appears in his office and involves him in a scheme that forces them into marriage. With Amber's knowledge of the financial history of the 1930s, they travel to the oil fields of Texas to recoup Wellman's funds.

Two people from different centuries are thrown together to survive a difficult time. Will they find more than A Way Back to prosperity?

Excerpt:

Do it her mind screamed. In one swift move she locked her arms around his waist, pulled, and dropped to the floor. She cringed at the loud crack when his head hit the window sash as he fell back landing on top of her.

They both remained still for a moment. The air knocked out of her, she managed to gasp out, “Could you move? You’re squashing me.”

He rolled and her head bounced on the floor as she changed positions from trying to rise to flat on her back. Long arms held hers above her head and muscled legs kept her body from moving. Striking gray eyes pierced hers, examining every inch of her. Her face flushed at the intrusion and she struggled to get him off. He applied more pressure and she stilled.

A lock of blonde hair fell over his forehead, a patrician nose flared in anger, as his square jaw tightened. He ground out, “Who the hell are you and why’d you try to knock my head off?”

REMEMBER: Linda will give away and ecopy of her time travel romance set in 1880s Waco, Texas, My Heart Will Find Yours. Just leave a commet to be entered in the drawing. Good luck!

2011-04-11T09:10:00.001-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

Jean Tennant

CONTEST: I’ll be giving an autographed copy of “Red & the Wolf,” as well as a copy of the 2010 Midwest anthology, “Amber Waves of Grain,” to the person who posts (in my opinion) the most interesting question. So try to come up with something a little more creative than “Where do you get your ideas”!

-Jean

AL: Hi Jean! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Jean: Thank you for having me.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Jean: Well, my pet population seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. A few years ago my husband and I took in a little Westie mix when his owner moved to a new apartment that didn’t allow pets. We knew Kirby and said we’d take him. He’s been a joy to have and a wonderful addition to our family. Then, a couple of years ago, my husband’s godmother, age 84, went into the nursing home and didn’t know what she was going to do with her dog, a 5-year-old Spitz. So we adopted Dakota. And just a couple of weeks ago my daughter was told by her landlord that she could no longer keep her Yorkie, Bella. We now have three dogs. My husband is a good sport, though sometimes the yapping does send him fleeing to the sanctity of his garage.

I also have a new grandchild, 4-month-old Brynnlee. I won’t mention her full name here, but her initials are BOSS, which might be prophetic.

AL: Please share with us about a current or upcoming release.

Jean: My most recently release is “Red & the Wolfe: a Lake Okoboji Fable,” which is a romance novel. A while back I kept hearing on the radio that old song, “Little Red Riding Hood” by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. It seemed to be everywhere, and each time I heard it the story would grow in my mind, until I finally had to sit down and start writing. “Red & the Wolfe” is a lighthearted story with serious undertones, and was great fun to write. Besides Red (Riley Renee Harrison), there’s the wolf (Aaron Wolfe), Riley’s grandmother, and even the woodsman (who works for the DNR).

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Jean: Well, with my additional duties as publisher and editor, I’m gathering stories for the upcoming Midwest anthology, titled “Make Hay While the Sun Shines: Fourth in the Series of Stories about Growing Up in and Around Small Towns in the Midwest.”

My publishing company, Shapato Publishing, produced an anthology, “Walking Beans Wasn’t Something You Did with Your Dog: Stories about Growing Up in and Around Small Towns in the Midwest” in 2008. (That’s a mouthful, isn’t it?) It was intended to be a one-time thing, but the book proved to be so popular that we followed it up with a second, titled “Knee High by the Fourth of July: More Stories of Growing Up in and Around Small Towns in the Midwest” in 2009. After that, it seemed people expected us to put out another, and what else could we do but oblige? “Amber Waves of Grain: Third in the Series of Stories About Growing Up in and Around Small Towns in the Midwest” came out in November of 2010.

Back to the upcoming anthology … the deadline for submitting a story is April 30th. As we get down to the wire the stories typically come flooding in, which is the case this time as well. I’ve already started doing a sort of triage, where I put the submissions in piles labeled “Yes,” “No” and “Maybe.” “Maybe” is always the largest pile. Near the end of the month I’ll start contacting the authors whose stories did not make the cut, and let them know as gently as possible that I won’t have a place for their work in this anthology. Then I’ll make the hard decision of choosing approximately 35 stories from the “Yes” and “Maybe” piles. In some cases, if I liked a story but there simply wasn’t room for it, I’ll contact the author and ask for their permission to hang onto it for possible use next year. Then I’ll contact the authors of the 35 stories chosen and will let them know that a contract will be mailed shortly.

AL: What do you like best about writing? What is your least favorite thing?

Jean: I love creating characters. Fiction is so much fun, because the author has full creative control over the characters as well as the situation they’re in, and this is such a heady feeling. I haven’t written fantasy, but I’ve written horror (my early books, “Descendents,” “Orphans,” “Wild Card” and others were horror novels written under the name Jean Simon) and that truly is creating another world.

My least favorite part of writing is forcing myself to stop editing and to send my work out. Editing can be a never-ending job if you let it, and I’ve learned that I’ll never be completely satisfied. So at some point I just have to say “That’s enough!” and put it in an envelope. Then, as soon as it’s mailed out I’ll take a look at it on my computer and will say, “Oh, I wish I’d used a different word there,” or “I could have phrased that better.” Never fails.

AL: How do you decide upon your settings? What about the names of characters? Do you ever change either mid-stream into a story?

Jean: I’m an outliner and I work out these details in my first rough outlining process. I have to have my main characters named, the setting decided on and the book titled before I can get into writing my first rough draft. If I don’t have those things I just can’t move forward. Sometimes I’ll use a real town or city for my setting, but more often than not I’ll choose to create a fictional town. That way I don’t have to worry about getting the geography right. I can put a street wherever I want, can name a business whatever I want and don’t have to worry about offending anyone.

For the names of characters I refer to my handy “Ideas File.” In there I have all the names that have struck my fancy over the years and that I’ve just been waiting for the opportunity to use. I like offbeat names if the situation and character warrants it, but will use plain names for secondary or walk-on characters, because too many unusual names becomes a distraction.

And I do not change either mid-stream. Probably because I’ve worked all that out in the outlining process, and by the time I’m working on the book itself the characters are pretty well cemented in my mind. They have to be, for me to start working on the book.

AL: Who inspired you to follow your dream of writing?

Jean: That would be my grandmother, who passed away about 12 years ago at the age of 89. She was an avid reader, as was I as a child, and she was the one person I trusted to share my early attempts at writing with. She was always so encouraging. A few years ago I saw Jody Foster on TV, accepting an award, and she thanked her parents because, as she put it, “Every little picture I drew was a Picasso.” That’s how my grandmother was to me. Every story I wrote was a masterpiece, and that wonderful love and acceptance gave me to the courage to keep writing.

AL: It’s time to get personal! You’re snowed in for a week in the Swiss Alps. You’ve enough firewood and food to get you through the blizzard waging outside. What are three things that you would have to have with you?

Jean: Hmm… I’m assuming “snowed in” means no electricity, so my laptop is no good. In that case I’d want a spiral notebook and a few ink pens so I could write. (You see I very sneakily lumped paper and pens in as one thing.) I wrote my first few books in longhand, so that’s no problem for me, I’d just be going back to my roots.

Would my Kindle work in that setting? If so, definitely my Kindle because that would give me enough reading material for a lifetime. If the Kindle wouldn’t work, then I’d want a copy of “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand. I’ve tried numerous times over the years to get through that 1200- page book and have never managed it. Yet it’s one of those I feel I should read, so maybe it would take a blizzard for me to finally accomplish that task.

The third thing would be my glasses. That may sound strange, but I usually wear contact lenses and if something happened to my contacts – if I lost one or they fogged up and couldn’t be cleaned properly – I’d absolutely have to have my glasses to see. I’m fairly blind, and all the reading and/or writing material in the world would be of no use to me if I couldn’t see. Remember that old Twilight Zone episode where Burgess Meredith was the sole survivor of a nuclear disaster, but he was happy because he was in the library and at last he had all the time in the world to read without interruption – then he dropped his very thick glasses and broke them? That would be me.

AL: What favorite movie; or T.V. show makes you hunker down on the sofa and settle in for the night?

Jean: I love the old movies, the classics. One of my favorites is A Face in the Crowd with Andy Griffith before he was ever Andy Taylor of Mayberry. He plays a sleazy character, very different than what people are accustomed to seeing him play. To Kill a Mockingbird is another one I never get tired of.

As for TV, I admit I’m something of a reality show junky. I’ve been watching Survivor since the very first one and I’m still fascinated by it. You couldn’t make up characters like that! So it’s doubly exciting for me that I’m currently editing Benjamin “Coach” Wade’s book, titled “No Turning Back: The South American Expedition of a Dragon Slayer,” which my company will publish it in June. Coach has been on Survivor twice. About 15 years ago he traveled alone by kayak from southern California to South American, a dangerous six-month journey during which he kept a journal. It was a very spiritual experience for him.

AL: What were you like as a kid?

Jean: I always had my nose in a book. I was a shy kid, introspective and moody, in an unhappy family situation (except for my grandmother) and books were a means of escape.

AL: What are you reading in your spare time?

Jean: Spare time??

Well, I just finished “You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness,” by Julie Klam; nonfiction, learning about love and life through dogs. I’m about halfway through “Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back,” about a child’s near death experience. And I just purchased “The Promise of Hope: How True Stories of Hope and Inspiration Saved my Life and How they Can Transform Yours,” by Edward Grinnan, the editor-in-chief of Guideposts magazine.

It sounds like I real only nonfiction, doesn’t it? I am partial to nonfiction, but I read fiction as well. I just finished Suzanne Collins’ “Hunger Games” trilogy and it was outstanding.

I do tend to read two and three books at a time, which is why my Kindle is such a wonderful device: I can carry dozens of books with my in one portable little package.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Jean: I’ve started a blog on writing, which can be read at: www.spencerdailyreporter.com. Titled “The Mad Author,” I’m using it as a platform to put together a nonfiction how-to book of the same name. I want to finish Coach’s book and get it out on schedule. I’ll also be busy working on the upcoming anthology. And, in keeping up with the changing market, I’m busy formatting all of Shapato Publishing’s books for Kindle, Nook and other e-readers.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Jean: That’s an easy one. “Outside of a book, man’s best friend is a dog. Inside of a book it’s too dark to read.” Groucho Marx.

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Jean.

Jean: You’re very welcome, and thank you for having me. There’s nothing I enjoy more than talking about writing and books, so this has been a pleasure for me.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Jean please visit:

www.shapatopublishing.com
www.jeantennant.com
www.spencerdailyreporter.com

FEATURED TITLE: RED & THE WOLFE

Blurb:

Riley Harrison has traveled to her grandmother's house in Lake Okoboji, Iowa, where she plans to visit for a week . . . or so she thinks. All too soon, Riley learns that her grandmother isn't doing well, and can no longer care for the house and guest cabins that make up the Harrison Resort. While trying to straighten out her grandmother's finances, continue her job as a website designer long-distance, and renew old friendships, she meets Aaron Wolfe, a beguiling local restaurant owner and entrepreneur who seems to have his eye on Riley's grandmother's property. Or is his eye on Riley? Can she trust him? Or is he trying to seduce her only so he can get his hands on the Harrison Resort?

Excerpt:

They climbed an open stairway to the third level of the house, and there Aaron guided her through a set of sliding glass doors, out onto a balcony. Up this high the wind was sharp and biting. Riley zipped her parka, pulled up the hood and tucked her hands deep into the pockets.

But the view was astonishing, and within moments she hardly felt the cold.

The front side of his house faced the lake, and from the third story balcony they had a clear view of much of the lake in its entire frozen splendor, shimmering with a silent, ghostly radiance. The lights of the amusement park twinkled far to one side, and on the other side she could see a long stretch of curving beach, most of the homes set far enough back on their lots as to be almost hidden among the trees. The moon overhead was a white globe above the treetops, the stars incandescent witness to the scene below.

“Oh, Aaron, this is beautiful,” she breathed. Tears came to her eyes. She tried to tell herself it was from the cold, and not the exquisiteness of the landscape below, but she was nonetheless surprised by her own reaction.

“Beautiful. Yes . . . it is,” Aaron agreed, his eyes only on her. He stepped closer, gripped the hood of her parka on each side of her face, and gently turned her to him.

REMEMBER: I’ll be giving an autographed copy of “Red & the Wolf,” as well as a copy of the 2010 Midwest anthology, “Amber Waves of Grain,” to the person who posts (in my opinion) the most interesting question. So try to come up with something a little more creative than “Where do you get your ideas”!

- Jean

2011-04-08T08:49:00.000-05:00

MOVIE PHRASE FRIDAY

"Why are you trying so hard to fit in when you were born to stand out?"

Name that movie!

2011-04-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's Witty Words

"If we would build on a sure foundation in friendship, we must love friends for their sake rather than our own."

- Charlotte Bronte

2011-04-04T09:22:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

T. M. HUNTER

CONTEST: T. M. Hunter would like to do a free book giveaway. Three winners of a signed copy of his short story collection Dead or Alive chosen at random from those who leave comments. He will also give a free book code for everyone who stops by, allowing them a free download of his novella Seeker. T. M. will announce the winners at the end of the week. Good luck!

AL: Hi Todd! Welcome back! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

TMH: Great to be here! Thanks for having me back!

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

TMH: Plenty of stuff going on in life and in writing, both. Later this year, I’ll be heading off for a short overseas assignment at work. It’s going to be an interesting time, since I’ve never technically been out of the country (other than Canada, which doesn’t really count). With the day job, sleep, and my writing, there’s not a lot of extra time to do much else. Now, if we can just keep my wife out of the hospital (even if I tend to get a lot of writing done while she’s there)…

AL: Please share with us about a current or upcoming release.

TMH: I just had a pair of recent releases. My first being Seeker, which I mentioned above. The other is my new 11-story Aston West collection Dead or Alive. This feature from ResAliens Press presents new and classic short stories from the Aston West universe. Aston treks across the galaxy and shows off to everyone why he’s so often wanted dead or alive.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

TMH: Deep doesn’t begin to cover it. I have my third Aston “in the series” novel (tentatively entitled Death Brings the Victory) out with my beta readers for their feedback, as well as conceptualizing the fourth, Resurrection. Another of my novels (this one being non-Aston), The Cure, is making the rounds with agents. And between all of those, I keep working up new short stories for magazines. And if all that wasn’t torture enough, I started putting together some screenplays and comic book scripts. The fun never ends…

AL: What is the most difficult part of being a writer and do you write whenever the mood strikes, or do you have a specific routine?

TMH: The most difficult part is convincing yourself that no matter how much rejection you go through, continuing to punish yourself is actually worth it to reach the goal line. As for my routine, I tend to write whenever I have a free moment. I purchased a netbook about a year ago, and it’s been the best investment I’ve ever made. It’s portable enough that I can take it with me and keep my writing moving, whereas the pen-and-paper method I used to employ just ended up with me wasting time in transcribing my work.

AL: Who is the author(s) that inspired you to write?

TMH: If I had to pick, I imagine it was the collective known as Franklin W Dixon (the ghost authors who penned the Hardy Boys tales). Those were some of my favorite stories growing up. But, being the son of an English teacher, it was probably inevitable that I’d end up getting into writing. With my first attempt (loose as it was) being in the third grade, it didn’t take long for the bug to bite. The rest, as they say, is history.

AL: When you write do you do a detailed outline before you get started or do you have the idea then just 'fly by the seat of your pants'?

TMH: Depends on what I’m writing. With my short stories, I generally do a rough plot sketch, with the idea I want to work in and the characters, but calling it an outline would be overkill. With my novels, I tend to go more with an outline, but I only put in as much detail as I need. And of course, sometimes it completely diverges from the “details” I put in the outline.

AL: It’s time to get personal! What's your favorite music?

TMH: I’m a big fan of 80s hair bands and 80s heavy metal (which I’m pretty sure is considered pop-rock now…go figure). There are a few songs and artists that I’ll break that bond for, but they’re few and far between.

AL: If you could have any car in the world; would it be a slow rider, or one that the wind has to hurry just to keep up with you?

TMH: As long as I didn’t have to pay for the gas or the insurance (or the tickets), I’d be up for a Boss 302 Mustang. It’s probably the same mental affliction that drives my musical taste, but I’m a sucker for muscle cars. Aside from this general aversion to spending money…

AL: What’s your favorite comfort food?

TMH: A perfectly baked homemade lasagna…too bad it’s so hard to find. You either get lasagna that’s overcooked/burned, or you end up with lasagna from a box. Ugh…

AL: If your muse were to talk behind your back, what secrets would he/she tell?

TMH: All the juicy ones…but really, she’d probably complain about the fact that with all these other story ideas being fed to me over the years, I still stick with all the Aston tales. I swear, she’ll leave me one of these days over all this disrespect.

AL: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?

TMH: I’m hoping that in the next few years, my tales and characters will become more well-known in the general public, and even more, I’d like to start selling some subsidiary rights in the entertainment area. Most of my goals I set are ones I have complete control over, so I generally get them done (not always on schedule, but…). The things I’d like to obtain (an agent, major publishing contract, etc.) are all dependent on other people, unfortunately, so I don’t generally set those up as “goals” as much as I set goals that will lead to those happening.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

TMH: As much bad press as the Bible gets in modern society, it’s full of some really great quotes. My ultimate favorite (that I’ve found to be true each and every time), James 3:16, “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Aston.

TMH: Thanks again for having me! It’s been a blast! And I can’t wait to give away some copies of my books to some lucky commenters!

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Aston please visit:

http://astonwest.com
http://twitter.com/astonwest
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Aston-West-Universe/172990236079324

FEATURED TITLE: SEEKER

Blurb:

Space pirate Aston West has been in trouble with the law before, so thinks nothing of a random cargo check. That is, until the authorities reveal their ace-in-the-hole, a woman they call the Seeker. She could unravel every illegal deed he's ever committed, putting him in risk of losing his freedom or even his life.

Excerpt:

Passing through the doorway into my living quarters, I tossed the empty bottle into a clothes pile, crinkling my nose at the stench. The entry hatch popped open as the pressures between the two ships equalized. Six automatic blast rifles were pointed directly at my chest, giving me the usual welcome I received in these circumstances.

Knowing the drill by heart, I clasped my fingers atop my head. Troops piled in, yelling jumbles of words at each other and at me. Someone kicked the back of my legs and a rifle barrel was shoved in my face as my kneecaps struck the metal floorboard.

“Don’t move, scum.”

In my youth, I would have taken exception to such treatment. Age and more than my fair share of holding cells had made me wiser. I bided my time quietly, since I had nothing to hide. A pair of troops tore apart my quarters while others ducked off into my aft cargo hold.

Testosterone flooded the compartment, and all of it was wasted. They were going through this exercise and would end up with nothing to show for it. I smiled, knowing I’d have the last laugh.

“Wipe that look off your face, dirtbag.”

I looked up into the fiery green eyes of my captor. His helmet matched the metallic gray body armor he wore. His nose and mouth were covered in black fabric, but nothing muffled him from running his mouth, unfortunately. “Answer me when I speak!”

I frowned at his abusive attitude, just in time for him to club my head with his rifle butt. He jerked the barrel back at my chest, while my skull throbbed.

The only thing preventing me from jumping up and pummeling him was the fact this would be over soon. I forced words through clenched teeth. “Yes, sir.”

It was good my Mark II blaster was hidden in a secret crevice next to the airlock. Had it been holstered under my jacket, I might have been shot dead like a wild animal, instead of just beaten down like a domesticated one.

Those inside my living quarters finally gave up the search just before the other troops came back from my cargo hold. Their dejected facial expressions told me everything I’d already known; there hadn’t been anything they could find to implicate me. A smile almost crept back onto my face, but I refrained. I really wasn’t in the mood to end up with a concussion.

Another man entered through the hatch, absent any sort of body armor. His dark gray shirt bore a pair of silver ornamental bars on each shoulder. He looked down upon me with all the contempt I’d expect out of a ship’s officer. “Take him to the interrogation chamber.”

My heart sank. It wasn’t supposed to go down like this. “Why?” I protested, before my captor’s blast rifle tagged me again.

I brought my eyes back into focus while another man’s voice carried through the room. “Lieutenant, this ship’s completely empty. There’s no contraband on-board.”

“We’ll see what else he has to hide. The seeker should get some useful information out of him.”

My two-time attacker yanked me to my feet. “Up, scum!”

Already in a poor mood for this unsubstantiated detainment, I pulled away. “Get your paws off me.”

His eyes went wide. He shoved the barrel against my chest. “Give me an excuse to drop you, punk.”

“Enough!” We both faced the officer, whose stare burned into the armored guard. “You have your orders.”

His eyes narrowed, nostrils flaring as he shoved me. “Move.”

The officer led the way. We ducked into the telescoping airlock tunnel, where I worried the spongy floor might bust through with each step. There weren’t enough words to express how thankful I was when my feet stepped inside the craft’s entry corridor. The rubberized floor panels and metallic hull were definitely welcome.

My senses were assaulted with an overwhelming aroma of honey. The mixture was a rare delicacy out here in the depths of space, something I’d only had a few times in life. I looked off to my left as the lieutenant started off in the opposite direction. A woman faced me, shimmering black dress brushing along the floor, her breasts jutting out against the fabric. A hand-crafted shawl was draped across her shoulders, the same color as her fire-like tresses, making it hard to tell where the garment ended and her hair began. Her eyes were two milky white globes against a face of smooth, pale skin. Her petite frame seemed as though it would break just by looking at her.

And look I did.

It wasn’t often I stood this close to such beauty, let alone caught a woman’s stare. At least I assumed she was looking at me. Those milky globes haunted me, somehow conveying warmth despite their cold, empty appearance. It was a shame she was so out of place standing between her escorts, a pair of tall, armor-clad monsters.

A bright flash blinded me. Quick glimpses, images, random visual fragments bombarded my vision. Two bodies, intertwined, slowly came into focus.

REMEMBER: T. M. Hunter would like to do a free book giveaway. Three winners of a signed copy of his short story collection Dead or Alive chosen at random from those who leave comments. He will also give a free book code for everyone who stops by, allowing them a free download of his novella Seeker. T. M. will announce the winners at the end of the week. Good luck!

2011-03-28T08:24:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

Pauline Holyoak

CONTEST: Please leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Pauline's book (in e-book format). Winner to be announce on April 4^th.

AL: Hi Pauline! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Pauline: Thank you for inviting me.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Pauline: This is an exciting year for me. I’ve almost finished the second book of my trilogy and hope to have it to my publisher by the middle of May. I’m going to England in July for three weeks. I will be attending my first gay wedding there. We are renovating our sixties style home and interior decorating is one of my favorite hobbies. My son is getting married in the fall, to a wonderful young woman. She’s the type of daughter-in-law I have always dreamed of having.

AL: Please share with us about a current or upcoming release.

Pauline: My current novel is called Merryweather Lodge – Ancient Revenge. It is the first of a trilogy. This is what inspired me to write this story?…Every summer, when I was a child, we would visit my aunt and uncle at their quaint little cottage on Salisbury Plain. It was called Scotland Lodge and was situated not far from the historical Stonehenge. My uncle worked as a farm hand for the local squire. My aunt tended the manor house. It was there as I roamed free, deep within the English countryside, that I experienced joy, enchantment and some very strange and frightening occurrences. It was like a fairytale kingdom with a sinister twist. The memories of my summers at Scotland Lodge stayed with me, as a sort of nagging unsolved mystery all my life. A few years ago I revisited my childhood wonderland (the old place still emanates a strange and eerie essence) and was lead by some mysterious force into concocting this story and writing this book. It is from my mystifying experiences at Scotland Lodge that this trilogy has emerged.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Pauline: I’m working on the second book of my trilogy, Merryweather Lodge – Malevolent Spirit. I’m also in the process of revising some of my short stories and articles.

AL: What is the most difficult part of being a writer and do you write whenever the mood strikes, or do you have a specific routine?

Pauline: ?”...The most difficult part for me is the marketing. Years ago you would write a book, get it published then sit back and collect the royalties. But it’s not that way any more. Most authors are not salesmen, public speakers or comfortable being in the limelight but we are expected to promote ourselves, as well as our books, even by the big publishing houses. In the past few months I have participated in three book singing events, been interviewed by a newspaper reporter and was a guest speaker at our local library. It’s all a little nerve wracking, for an introvert like me. But I know I must come out of my shell and face the world, if I want to promote my book. I write long hand in my purple room, at my antique desk, under a large picture window. Then I type it into the cold inanimate piece of equipment I call my computer and edit as I go. Young people think this is weird, but the blank screen does not inspire me to write, the view outside my picture window does. I tend to compare my writing routine to my eating habits. Sometimes I graze, jotting down tasty morsels throughout the day. Other times I binge, feasting greedily, at my desk, for a long period of time, on something scrumptious, devouring every delicious word that comes to mind. Then, I find myself looking down at my work or my waist line and having to edit and revise.

AL: You also write children’s books—is it hard to turn off one genre mode to delve into another that is completely different?

Pauline: No, not really. I’m a professional nanny and I’ve worked with preschool children in one capacity or another most of my adult life. Children’s books come easy to me. Paranormal Suspense is a little more challenging but both genres fulfill my lust for storytelling.

AL: What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Pauline: Learn to live with rejections. Rejections are part of the writing life, learn how to cope with them and how to move on. For me, at first, they were like nagging little gremlins, suggesting that I didn’t measure up. I had to learn how to distinguish myself from my work, to set up boundaries between myself and my creation. My writing was like a child to me, but like my own children, I had to send it out into the world to succeed or fail on its own merit. We all get rejections, JK Rowling’s received 14 rejections before finding a publisher for Harry Potter. I wonder what ‘their’ thinking now? Steven King first book Carrie was tuned down 31 times, it took him ten years to get it published. And look at him now. Perseverance, patience, and bold determination are what most published authors have in common.

AL: It’s time to get personal! Tell us what you were like as a kid.

Pauline: I was a shy, reclusive child. I lived in a world of fantasy and make-believe, preferred the company of animals and Mother Nature to people, and I still do at times. My teachers would say, “you’ll never amount to anything if you don’t get your head out of the clouds.” Obviously they had never heard this quote – “Imagination is more important than Knowledge.” Albert Einstein.

AL: Spring is here! What’s your favorite part of the season?

Pauline: Oh Ann, spring is not here. I live in Western Canada and there’s still a foot of snow in my back yard. We’ve had record braking snow falls and it’s been an exceptionally long winter. Sigh. But you’re right, technically it is spring. It is my favorite time of year. I love everything about spring; the new life emerging mysteriously from a recent frozen ground, the fresh earthy smell of new ploughed soil, baby birds, the fragrance of blossom, especially lilac. Did you know that you can get lilac bushes that bloom all year round?

AL: What’s your favorite comfort food?

Pauline: I love this question; because I love to eat. Comfort foods? Hmmm, I have so many; scones, covered in cream and strawberry jam – rice pudding – sweet potato fries – dark chocolate, with a glass of red wine and oatmeal cookies. Yummy!

AL: You have just won five thousand dollars! But...you have to spend it all today. What will you buy?

Pauline: That ones easy, as we are renovating our home. I’d race to the nearest department store and spend, spend, spend!

AL: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?

Pauline: I hope to have my Merryweather Lodge trilogy finished and ‘out there’ within a year. I would like to have my two children’s books published and all the revisions to my short stories and articles finished. My goal is to have my trilogy on the New York Times bestsellers list and to see it on the big screen. I like to dream BIG!

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Pauline: “Whenever the student is ready the teacher will appear.”…”Intuition is a spiritual faculty. It does not explain but simply points the way.”…”Refuse to put others either above you or below you, but instead see them as you.”…”Where there is love there are always miracles.”

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Pauline.

Pauline: Thank you so much for having me. I look forward to hearing from your readers. Please join me on facebook.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Pauline please visit:

www.paulineholyoak.com

FEATURED TITLE: MERRYWEATHER LODGE - ANCIENT REVENGE

Blurb:

When Emily Fletcher meets the gorgeous Jonathan McArthur she is infatuated and consumed with lust. Will he go with her to the dreaded wood-lot, to remove the bloody ancient curse, before it’s too late? In the first half of my story Emily is fourteen years old. In the second half she is forced to return to the cottage, at the age of twenty. My novel contains elements of horror, humor, fantasy, romance and sex. I have created a world into which my readers can escape and an atmosphere that will evoke their imagination, stir their emotions and engage their senses. This book was inspired by my own experiences in a remote little cottage near Stonehenge.

Excerpt:

“Let’s go somewhere privet.” She said, grabbing my arm. She guided me to the passage and plunked me down on the bottom step of the attic stairs. My back straightened. Panic rose within me as an icy shiver ran down my spine. It was as if I had been lead to an old cemetery, sat on a grave and left among the tomb stones.

“That was her room you know.” She said as she pointed up the stairs.

“Who’s?”

“Mary Eliss.”

I turned my head ever so slowly and drew eyes up to the portal at the top of the stairs. I shivered and quickly looked way. “I know it was.”

In a low voice she whispered. “Do you suppose she’s still up there?” Then she grinned mischievously.

I looked into her strange glassy eyes. “She was, the last time I was here and I have a feeling she hasn’t left.”

REMEMBER: Please leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Pauline's book (in e-book format). Winner to be announce on April 4th.

2011-03-21T08:22:00.001-05:00

In the Author Spotlight

LISA FOX

AL: Hi Lisa! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Lisa: Thank you so much for having me over Ann! It’s a real pleasure to be here!

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Lisa: Spring is here and that makes me really happy. I hate the winter. I totally despise it, so I am just overjoyed right now to see the sun again and actually be able to open the windows in my home.

AL: Tell us what you have on the bookshelf for us to read.

Lisa: Well, I have Sculpting a Demon, a sexy paranormal romance featuring a fallen angel and lonely artist. It was great fun to write and I have to admit, even after all this time, I’m still in love with Arien.

I also have a very sexy Christmas erotic romance called Santa’s Sleeping Beauty. It is a Quickie so it is very short, but I promise you it does not lack for hotness!

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Lisa: I have a couple of projects in the works. I’m almost finished with the erotic retelling of an ancient Irish myth that I hope to submit soon. I also have a short vampire story in mind that I put aside, but would like to get back to work on.

AL: How do you decide upon your settings? What about the names of characters? Do you ever change either mid-stream into a story?

Lisa: Settings usually come to me right along with the story idea. It’s kinda like a package deal. Names are a little bit harder for me. I get a sense of the type of name I want – for example, what the first letter should be – but it does take me a while to settle on one. And, yes, I have changed the names midway through before.

AL: What is the strangest source of writing inspiration you’ve ever had?

Lisa: I was walking home one day and for some reason my mailbox caught my eye. That closed mailbox, and all the million billion possibilities it contained, totally captured my imagination that day.

AL: Do you believe a person has to have a special type of personality to write erotic romance?

Lisa: I’d have to go with no. I mean, I’m total horror junky who never quite grew out of her Goth phase and I LOVE to write erotic romance.

AL: It’s time to get personal! I see Hugh Jackman tops your list as a few of your favorite things. Mine too! Who are your top five?

Lisa: My top five favorite men? Wow, that is a very difficult decision to make. There are so many awesome men out there, I would hate to unintentionally leave one off my list. But if I absolutely had to choose, I guess I’d have to say, in no particular order: David Duchovny, Ian Somerhalder, Fernando Torres, Derek Jeter and, umm… Hugh Jackman!

AL: Spring is on its way…what’s your favorite part of the season?

Lisa: The smell. I love the smell of Spring.

AL: What would people be surprised to know about you?

Lisa: I really love bunny rabbits.

AL: What favorite movie; or T.V. show makes you hunker down on the sofa and settle in for the night?

Lisa: Would it be shocking if I said anything with Hugh Jackman in it?

AL: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?

Lisa: New York Times Bestseller List baby! That is the ultimate goal.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Lisa: My favorites change with my mood. For today, I’ll go with the one I keep on my blog: “When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip.”– Ignatius J. Reilly (Confederacy of Dunces)

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Lisa.

Lisa: Ann, thank you so much for having me! This was incredibly fun!

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Lisa please visit:

Website: www.LisaFoxRomance.com
Blog: http://lisafoxromance.wordpress.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/lisafoxromance

FEATURED TITLE: SCUPLPTING A DEMON

Blurb:

Lila Callahan lives a subdued life, devoting all her time and energy to her sculpting. When her best friend coerces her into performing a love spell, the last thing she expects is to wake up the next day with an outrageously sexy demon in her bed.

Arien is a fallen angel with a penchant for mischievousness and a talent for all the most decadent delights. He promptly turns Lila’s quiet, controlled world upside down and sparks fly between them, both inside her bedroom and out.

Arien shows her sides of herself she never knew existed, and Lila finds the love and passion she has always secretly longed for. But when Arien learns the true nature of her spell, he knows there is trouble ahead. The denizens of hell are only supposed to answer calls for greedy, lustful, malicious desires—and her little love spell was none of those things. There’s a way for Lila to have him for her own, but only if she’s willing to take a risk.

Excerpt:

Chapter One

“Nice,” Lila said aloud in her silent loft as she examined the phoenix sculpture she had been carving all afternoon. She shifted her weight, trying to get the feeling back in her lower regions and winced as the pins and needles prickled her legs.

She rotated the stand, carefully checking the phoenix from every angle, and zeroed in on a tiny flaw in the carving. Well, almost nice. Bending back over the sculpture, she carefully enhanced the wing detail, happily losing herself once again in the creative bliss bubble that always enveloped her whenever the work was going exceptionally well.

When the doorbell rang, Lila almost shattered the delicate wing she jumped so hard. She shot a frown toward the door, wondering who it could be. She wasn’t expecting anyone.

The bell rang again, an obnoxious, persistent series of buzzes. Groaning aloud, she stood up and brushed the shavings from her jeans. Obviously whoever was out there was not going to go away, however much she wished they would. She gave the sculpture one last longing look, and then answered the door.

“Surprise!” a high-pitched female voice screamed as a body barreled into hers. “Lila!” the woman screeched, and Lila smiled while she tried to untangle herself from her visitor, her very best friend from New York, Angelique Durand.

“What are you doing in Pittsburgh?” Lila asked. While it was wonderfully surprising to see Angie, it really wasn’t all that shocking. Angie always had a habit of popping up in the most unusual places. Lila held her at arm’s length so she could get a good look at her. “You look fantastic,” she added, more than a little jealous of the slinky black Versace dress her friend wore.

“Torque is here this weekend and I got the short straw,” Angie said, breezing by Lila into the loft.

“What’s a Torque?” Lila asked, closing the door.

“Torque is not an ‘a’. Torque is a he,” Angie said, heading for the kitchen space. She placed the bag she had been carrying on the counter and rummaged inside. “And he’s the very most hottest, hippest designer in the entire northern hemisphere.” She glanced over her shoulder at Lila. “For the moment.”

Lila balked. “If he’s so hot, what’s he doing here?”

“He’s from here,” Angie said, pulling a bottle of very nice red wine out of the bag. She held it up for Lila to see. “Wants to make his first major debut at home, as it were. Put Pittsburgh on the map or some such nonsense.”

“And you’re, what? Going to interview him?” Angie wrote for one of New York’s top glossy magazines. The kind of magazine that didn’t deign to give precious ad space to just anyone. If they sent her here after him, he really must be the current god of the fashion scene.

“No, I’m here for the full-on schmooze,” Angie said, struggling with the corkscrew. “Cocktails, dinner, nights on the town, you know how it goes. And I get the absolute pleasure of listening to him go on for hours and hours on what I’m sure is his very favorite subject, his very own fabulous self.” The cork came free with a loud, pleasant pop. “Where do you keep your glasses?”

“You sound excited,” Lila said, and retrieved two glasses from the cabinet over the sink.

“Oh yes,” Angie replied, matching Lila’s sarcastic tone. “Should be a blast.” She handed Lila a glass. “Let’s have a toast.”

“To what?” Lila asked, raising her glass.

“To fashion! Beauty! Art!” Angie said, touching her glass to Lila’s. “And most importantly, to amour!”

“Right.” Lila laughed, and then took a sip of wine. “So, how are things in The City?” she asked. “I miss it.”

“I still don’t see why you ever left,” Angie muttered.

Lila shook her head. They had been through this too many times to count. For Angie, New York was the only place worth living. “Because I, unlike you, do not have a trust fund. At least here I can actually afford rent and food.”

“Overrated,” Angie said, her high heels clicking against the hardwood floor as she strolled through Lila’s loft. “Who needs to eat when there’s so much to do?”

“I’d rather eat,” Lila said. “Besides, I’ve done more shows in the year I’ve been here than I did in all the years I lived in New York.”

“Yes, yes, I get it,” Angie said, the wine swishing dangerously in her glass as she moved. “Big fish, small pond and all that.”

“Something like that,” Lila said under her breath. Mostly it was that Pittsburgh offered her opportunities New York never would, not unless she somehow became an heiress or transformed into Rodin. Though she doubted even Rodin would catch a break in the New York art scene without the right connections or finances.

“Oooo,” Angie said, stopping in front of the six-foot-plus sculpture in Lila’s workspace. “What’s this?”

“It’s not finished,” Lila said, refilling her glass of wine.

“Well, obviously,” Angie said. “He’s got no face.” Her eyes trailed down the stone statue. “And not even a proper package, poor boy. But I do like it. It has definite promise,” she said, her fingertips tracing the abs Lila had painstakingly chiseled into the block of alabaster.

“I guess,” Lila said, coming to stand beside Angie. “I started out trying to do a modern take on the David, but it’s not really working. There’s something…” She frowned, frustrated with her inability to put what was wrong into words. “Missing,” she finished with a shrug.

“What you need is inspiration, girlfriend,” Angie declared. “How long has it been since you’ve even seen a real, live, naked man, hmmm?” When Lila didn’t answer, Angie nodded her head. “Just as I thought. For your own good and continued sanity we clearly have to go out and find you some stimulation.” She shimmied her shoulders. “Get those creative juices flowing.”

“No way,” Lila said. When Angie got that gleam in her eyes, it meant something outrageous and probably illegal in most states was brewing in her devious little mind. “I refuse to let you loose on the unsuspecting people of Pittsburgh.”

“You’re no fun,” Angie pouted. “Don’t worry,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “I’ve seen that look on your face too many times not to know that no matter what I say you’re not going to budge. Not even for a hot night of gloriously anonymous, earth-shattering sex.” She began to pace the loft, tapping her finger against her lips. “Well, if we can’t go out…” She let her voice trail off and then a bright smile bloomed on her face. “Then we’ll make him come to us!”

“What?” Lila asked, blinking hard at Angie’s sudden burst of enthusiasm. This couldn’t be good. “Who—?”

“Candles,” Angie said, cutting her off. “I need some candles and a pink scarf or cloth or something and some red chalk.”

“What are you talking about, Angie?”

“We,” Angie said, spinning on her Manolo Blahnik heel to face Lila, “are going to perform the most stupendously powerful love spell ever. We’re going to conjure you a man!”

“We’re going to what?” Lila gaped. “Are you kidding?”

“No joke,” Angie said. “I did a four-page spread on love spells last month. Four pages, Lila. This wasn’t some front-of-the-book filler fluff. I interviewed oodles of witches, warlocks, shamans and santeros. For the most part it was all utter drivel, but this spell,” she said, ransacking Lila’s kitchen drawers and cabinets. “This is The One. They all said so.”

“You’re crazy. You know that, don’t you?”

“Positively mad.”

2011-03-14T09:42:00.000-05:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

Elaine Cantrell

CONTEST: Leave a comment for a chance to win an ecopy of Elaine's book, The Welcome Inn. To win you must leave an email address so she can contact you.

AL: Hi Elaine! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Elaine: It’s a pleasure to be here, Ann. Thanks so much for inviting me.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Elaine: At the moment I’m struggling with our new dog. He was a rescue dog so he’s difficult to say the least. He’s coming along, though. He hides his rawhide bones all over the house. I sat on the sofa the other day and found a bone he’d hidden under a throw pillow, and last night I found another one in a pile of sheets I was collecting for the wash. He’s learned how to dig too. He’s a white dog, but his paws are usually orange because we live in an area where the soil is red. My son said he looks like a Creamsicle. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time bathing him.

AL: Tell us what you have on the bookshelf for us to read.

Elaine: It’s called Return Engagement, and even though I wrote it, I fell in love with my own hero. This guy, Richard, is a compilation of all my heroes. He’s sexy, handsome, smart, passionate, romantic, impulsive, and just a tiny bit dangerous. My heroine gets an adrenalin rush every single time she’s around him. I liked him so much I have a sequel written and have started on a third book. May I have one minute to brag? Return Engagement is number 5 on the Whiskey Creek Press best seller list.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Elaine: Truthfully, I’m almost out of my mind with edits. I have a book that was supposed to be out March 8, but the date was pushed back a few weeks. It’s called A New Dream and is about a pro-football player. I also have a book coming at the end of May. The title is still up in the air. Every waking minute that I’m not at work I’ve been editing these books. One is finished, but the other isn’t.

AL: Out of all your stories do you have one that is more near and dear your heart?

Elaine: Yes, Return Engagement.

AL: When you write do you do a detailed outline before you get started or do you have the idea then just 'fly by the seat of your pants'?

Elaine: I always know my starting point and where I want to end, and maybe have a general idea of how to do it, but mostly I create it as I go along.

AL: Is there an author(s) out there that you’d love to do an anthology with?

Elaine: That’s an interesting thought. I’ve never considered doing an anthology. I have a lot of favorite authors so nobody in particular comes to mind. Maybe Maggi Andersen, Kim Bowman, Stephanie Burkhart, or Ruth Hartman. They’ve all been to my blog recently, and I like their excerpts.

AL: It’s time to get personal! I love that you’re a teacher. Can you tell us one of your favorite memories over the years? It must be very rewarding to help shape a young person’s life.

Elaine: Two things that warm my heart happened recently. One of my students begged to read the sci/fi novel I was writing. I had to edit some parts, but he devoured the book and asked for more. Another one of my students asked me to help her write a story, a little summer romance thing. I did help her, and I plan to feature her story on my blog.

AL: How do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? I’m a shame to my ancestors. I wear green, but I leave the drinking to others. I’m a terrible lightweight.

Elaine: You sound like me! I’m Irish too, but I usually have to work on St. Patrick’s Day, so I wear shamrock earrings and just do my regular routine.

AL: What annoys you enough to be considered a pet peeve?

Elaine: Not wiping the crumbs off the kitchen counters after the dishes are done. It totally drives me bonkers!

AL: If you were a cartoon, which character would you be?

Elaine: I’d like to be Wonder Woman, but I’m probably like Mr. Frederickson from the movie Up.

AL: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?

Elaine: I’d like to release a few more books of course, and my goal that I have yet to achieve is to be number one on my publisher’s bestseller list. Right now I’m number five.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us

Elaine: I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. Bill Cosby. Profound when you think about it.

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Elaine.

Elaine: Thanks for having me, Ann. I enjoyed talking to you and your readers.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Elaine please visit:

www.elainecantrell.com
www.elainepcantrell.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/elainepcantrell

FEATURED TITLE: RETURN ENGAGEMENT

Blurb:

Elizabeth Lane is one lucky woman. She has it all-money, fame, a satisfying career and a devoted fiancé. Her humble beginnings are all but obscured, but she isn’t the kind of woman Senator Henry Lovinggood wants for his son, Richard. Senator Lovinggood plans to make Richard the President of the United States; he’ll need a woman from a wealthy, powerful family by his side. Ten years ago the senator broke Richard and Elizabeth up, but this time it won’t be so easy, for Elizabeth wants to know what might have been. This time she’ll fight back, a struggle which ultimately leads to kidnapping and attempted murder and alienates her from the man of her dreams.

Excerpt:

“Hurry up, Elizabeth. Jay’s almost finished talking, and he goes ballistic if anyone holds up the shoot.” Cathy Craig, Elizabeth Lane’s best friend and honorary sister, stood in the doorway of the trailer to wait for her.

“I’ll be right there, Cathy. Just let me adjust this belt.” She groaned as she tried to get the belt to rest in the right place. “I hate this costume. Oh, why do I have to be so curvy?”

“Who cares? It works for the public, right?”

Elizabeth giggled. “I guess so. Are there many people watching?”

“Yeah, a good many. Jay told them you were in the movie, so most of them are probably waiting to see you.”

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Elizabeth answered. “If they didn’t want to see me and get my autograph, I guess I’d have to find other work.”

The two friends laughed together and made their way to the set on the beach. “It’s Elizabeth!” a shrill female voice cried. The crowd buzzed with excited chatter as the spectators pressed forward to get a good luck at the big star. Elizabeth smiled and cheerfully waved to her fans. She knew some of them followed her life religiously. She could guess why, too. She represented the glamour and excitement they craved but lacked in their daily lives. She knew a lot about dreams, so yes, she’d gladly smile and wave to them. Pausing for one moment, she signed a couple of autographs before moving on.

A tall, blond man standing near the back of the crowd caught her eye. She faltered and stumbled, catching hold of Cathy’s arm to stay upright in the sand. No, it couldn’t be! Richard! They hadn’t seen each other in ten years, but yes, it was Richard. She’d know him anywhere. His blue eyes still mesmerized her as he watched her progress across the beach. Irrelevantly, she remembered that when he was aroused his eyes always darkened.

Her heart took off in a wild gallop. He had matured since she last saw him. His shoulders had broadened, and the well defined muscles in his chest rippled under his tee shirt. His stomach appeared flat and hard, and his legs looked shapely and well formed. The expression on his face spoke of a fiery, passionate nature. Her face flushed as it occurred to her that if she faced him across a bed today as she had done ten years ago, the outcome might be very different. He didn’t look like a man she’d want to turn down.

Uh oh. She had started to shake. Would she be able to do her scene or not? She hoped so, but seeing Richard had brought the past vividly to life.

A dull ache, long familiar, reminded her how much it hurt to break up with him. He really was too young for me, but somehow it didn’t matter at all. We were compatible in every way.

No wonder I fell head over heels in love with him.

Her lips tightened. She had never told him what happened right before their final date, but she remembered it as well as if it had happened only yesterday.

“Hello, Miss Lane. May I come in?”

“Of course, Senator Lovinggood. It’s nice to see you. Please, come in and have a seat.”

“That’s all right. I won’t be staying long. I stopped by to tell you that I don’t want you to see my son anymore.”

“Senator…”

“Please, hear me out, Miss Lane.”

“Go on.”

The senator’s cold eyes bored into hers. “Richard is only seventeen, but you are twenty-two. Presumably, you are more experienced than he is. Truthfully, I blame his infatuation for you on his inexperience.

Don’t take advantage of an impressionable boy, Miss Lane. Richard isn’t a toy to be used for your pleasure and then discarded. He’s being groomed for important work in the future, but if he keeps seeing you he has very little chance of winning any political office. If you care about him let him go.”

Even now she swallowed against the anger that still burned her. I was so angry I thought I might have a stroke, she thought. How dare he come to my home and try to intimidate me!

Her eyes took on a faraway expression. I decided on the spot I’d never agree to the senator’s demands. I thought that seeing me wouldn’t ruin Richard’s future career. The senator only wanted to frighten me away.

She and Cathy had reached the set now. Elizabeth pasted a brilliant smile on her face, but inside where it counted she was bleeding. I changed my mind when Richard and I ended up in my bedroom kissing, touching, and undressing. I knew then that Senator Lovinggood was right. If Richard and I continued our relationship, the press would crucify both of us. While it would probably help my career, it would only hurt him. Scandal titillates the public and enhances a star’s reputation, but it’s the kiss of death for a politician.

“Psst, Elizabeth! Aren’t you listening to me?” Cathy sounded cross.

“Sorry,” Elizabeth apologized. “What did you say?”

Cathy shrugged. “It wasn’t important. What were you thinking so hard about?”

I…ah…I was..thinking about someone I used to know.”

“Who?” Kathy asked.

Elizabeth sighed. “An old boyfriend if you really want to know. I let him go, but it almost killed me. I…don’t know if I…ever really got over it.”

“Oh, I guess everyone remembers the one who got away,” Cathy lightly answered. “You’ve got Alex now, and you guys are happy, right?”

“Yes, very happy.” And they were, but come hell or high water she intended to talk to Richard the minute this scene ended. She’d like to know what he’d done with his life.

Hmm. Wonder if Senator Lovinggood still tried to control him? He didn’t look like a man who’d take kindly to his father interfering in his business.

She squared her shoulders, a look of determination on her face. After ten years she deserved a sense of closure, and she intended to get it. Then maybe she could finally close the door on the past and Richard Lovinggood.

CONTEST: Leave a comment for a chance to win an ecopy of Elaine's book, The Welcome Inn. To win you must leave an email address so she can contact you.

2011-03-09T12:55:00.000-06:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

KALLYSTEN

CONTEST: Kally has two contests to offer today.

FIRST CONTEST:
Prize: A paperback copy of the winner’s choice of CheckMate or the Men in Space anthology.
How to enter: Comment on this interview or ask a question (make sure you leave your e-mail or a link you can be reached through your profile in case you win).
Deadline: March 16th

SECOND CONTEST:
Prize: Winners’ choice of one of Kally's $0.99 reads – She has 20 short stories to choose from!
How to enter: Become Kally's friend on Facebook. That’s it. Here’s the fun part: there will be one winner for every 5 participants. So if 5 people become her friends, there will be one winner. If 10 do, 2 winners. 50 friends, 10 winners and so forth. If you already are her friend there, enter the contest by making a post linking to this interview.
Deadline: March 20th

AL: Hi Kallysten! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Kallysten: I’m excited to be here! Thank you so much for having me!

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Kallysten: My big project right now is to get ready for spring planting. We are lucky enough to have a small vegetable garden, and this year will be the second time we grow our own veggies. The hubby will prepare the soil once it unfreezes (!) but before that I’ll start all my plants from seed. Last year I started some plants too late and didn’t get to harvest some things; this year I’m trying to learn from my mistakes! On my list so far are cherry tomatoes, green beans, peas, broccoli, carrots, kale, eggplant, cauliflower… and anything else I can fit in my small square of earth!

AL: Would you like to tell us about a current or upcoming release?

Kallysten: My latest release a couple of weeks ago was Fangs and Lullabies. I’ll admit I was more nervous than usual about this story because it’s not a traditional plot as it follows a very extraordinary little boy and his two vampire fathers other the course of seventeen years. The response from readers has been overwhelmingly positive though so I’m glad I stretched my writing wings a little with this one.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Kallysten: Do you want an alphabetical list? *GRIN* I’ve got a dozen projects in my WIP folder, most to be released by the end of the year. The story that takes most of my time right now is Living Out of the Box, a sequel to my Out of the Box series. I’m deep into edits and finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m also preparing for the release of Seventh Vision of Destiny at the end of the month; the series this belongs to is fun to write, because each installment contains an independent short story within a longer story that spans all ten books. One other thing I’m working on is a freebie I post in monthly installments on my site. The title is Losing His Wings and it mixes vampires, angels and demons.

AL: What is the strangest source of writing inspiration you’ve ever had?

Kallysten: I think it’s got to be a NASA picture of a galaxy, with beautiful colors. I use those as background on my computer and one of them just looked like magic to me. I started daydreaming about what kind of magic might make such a show, and that’s how I’ll Be Home For Christmas came to be.

AL: What do you feel is the most important thing that a first-time author should know?

Kallysten: Writing ‘the end’ on the page is actually only the beginning. Then start the edits, the submissions, the promo and so forth… Being an author is about more than writing, it’s a lesson I’m still learning.

AL: Do you have a mentor or critique partner that you work with consistently?

Kallysten: I do, and I am lucky enough to have found someone who doesn’t let our friendship prevent her from being ruthless! She has no problem hitting me over the head when I need it – or murdering my darlings – and I thank her as often as I can for that.

AL: It’s time to get personal! Where would you like to travel if you had the chance?

Kallysten: I’m dreaming of a sandy beach and deep blue lagoon. Hawaii, or maybe Tahiti? Then again, I might just be tired of all the snow we had this winter!

AL: What were you like as a kid?

Kallysten: Shy, always either reading or scribbling stories… wait… that sounds like me today… I guess I am still the same!

AL: What decadent delight must you have no matter what?

Kallysten: Thick bubbles in my bath. A hubby in there is pretty nice, too.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Kallysten: My plans this year involve finishing two of my series, the Visions of Destiny and the Blurred Trilogy. I also plan to add to each of my other series, The Pacts, On The Edge, Special Enforcers and The Demons Age. I also hope I can finish my monthly freebie within the year. And then there’s this YA idea that has been tickling my muse for a while already…

AL: You’re the actress in a must see blockbuster movie that everyone’s been waiting all summer for. 1 - What’s the movie about? 2 - Who’s your character? 3 - And who’s your leading man?

Kallysten: Oh it has to be some superhero flick with a romance to die for. I’m the superhero(ine) (*GRIN*) and I do have a cape (it looks pretty when I fly) but definitely no spandex costume. The leading man, for a change, is totally normal, no superpower of his own except for the ability to make me melt. And since the hubby can’t act, I’ll have to settle for Hugh Jackman or Robert Downer Jr…

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Kallysten: “You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will." (Stephen King)

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Kallysten.

Kallysten: My pleasure! It was fun!

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Kallysten please visit:

http://original.kallysten.net
http://www.facebook.com/kallysten.author

FEATURED TITLE: FANGS AND LULLABIES

Blurb:

A child’s birth. His first teeth and first steps. School friends and bullies, recess, school plays and science projects. A girl, a crush and a broken heart. These childhood experiences are shared by countless little boys from different horizons.

And yet… Jacob is anything but average. For as long as he has been able to understand, a secret has shaped his life, kept even from his closest friends: his father, Andrew, is a vampire. And so is his other father, Nicholas.

In a strange era when demons are beginning to appear all over the world and threaten humans and vampires alike, the three of them form quite an extraordinary family. And yet, at the same time, they could hardly be more normal.

Two fathers raising a son neither of them ever thought he would have. A Sire and Childe resuming their relationship after years of estrangement. Through snapshots covering Jacob’s life from birth to adulthood, discover this unusual family, and how, in the end, all it takes is love.

Excerpt:

And there they go again.

It was all Andrew could do not to repeatedly bang his forehead against his desk. Just outside his office, Craig and Nicholas were arguing. Again. Something about crossbows, personal property, grabby hands, and oversensitive Special Enforcers. Any second now, Craig would make some threat involving stakes and ashes, and Nicholas would reply with a flippant comment that would only escalate things and Andrew was tired of Nicholas goading Craig at any occasion that presented itself and tired of Craig falling for it every time. Andrew had been hoping for the past month that they’d start acting like grown-ups, but apparently that was expecting too much.

“Nicholas!” Andrew shouted. “Get in here!”

Through the open door, Andrew could see both Nicholas and Craig become very still, both of them suddenly silent as they looked into the office. If Craig had said even a word, mocked Nicholas somehow, Andrew would have called Craig in as well, and chastised them both. But of the two of them, Craig must have had at least a little more sense, and he turned away while Nicholas came into the office.

“Close the door,” Andrew demanded, glaring.

Nicholas did so, then turned to Andrew, an eyebrow raised questioningly, as though Nicholas hadn’t known exactly why he had been called in.

Andrew waited for a few seconds before he asked, “Do we need new rules?”

“New rules?” Nicholas scoffed and pushed his hands deep inside his jean pockets. “Like what? Let the humans walk all over me? How about I give you rules for a change?”

Andrew stared, thoroughly unimpressed. “Rules for me, Childe? I think you might want to reword that.”

As much as Nicholas enjoyed teasing everyone, he did know there were things his Sire would not tolerate. The slip seemed accidental, judging by how quickly Nicholas amended his words. “Maybe not rules,” he said as he slinked into the chair on the other side of Andrew’s desk. “Just… requests.”

“Requests,” Andrew repeated, rolling the word in his mouth. “I like that much better than rules.” Leaning back in his chair, he placed his elbows on the armrests and steepled his fingers in front of him, considering Nicholas over them. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

A look of calculation fluttered over Nicholas’ face, and after a few seconds he leaned back in his chair as well, observing Andrew very closely. “First, I need money,” Nicholas said, determination filling his words.

It wasn’t anything Andrew had expected. Swallowing a laugh, he tried to keep a straight face as he asked, “How is that a rule?”

Nicholas shrugged. “You just said they’re not rules.”

Inclining his head, Andrew granted that much, but he still wasn’t convinced. “I’m already paying for your food and lodging,” he pointed out. “Why should I give you my hard earned money on top of that?”

“I’m taking care of the baby,” Nicholas said, so quickly it sounded like he had prepared his arguments for just such an opportunity. “And helping with chores and things. That deserves a reward.”

Andrew refrained from asking what chores exactly they were talking about, because Andrew’s own workload certainly didn’t seem to have lessened since Nicholas’ arrival. Nicholas was, for the most part, cleaning up after himself, but he had yet to offer to do anything more—not that Andrew had expected anything different. Andrew didn’t point that out, however, and instead, he said, a faint smile tugging at his lips, “So what you’re saying is, you want to be treated like nothing more than a servant. Is that it?”

Nicholas’ reaction was exactly as expected. He sat up in his chair, sputtering in indignation. He had grown up in the house of wealthy merchants, as close to nobility as the American nation had known, but not as a favored heir destined to inherit riches. Instead, he had been the son of domestics, trained into service before his tenth birthday, and while he had never said as much, Andrew knew Nicholas had hated it and wanted more from his life. Maybe that was why he had asked Andrew to turn him, although Andrew liked to think it had been about more than that.

“I’m not a servant,” Nicholas protested. “I’m your Childe, and I deserve—”

Knowing full well that Nicholas could spend hours listing all the things he thought he deserved if only given the chance, Andrew waved his hand. “Fine. Money. Sure. You need new clothes anyway.”

Nicholas looked vaguely affronted. He glanced down at himself, a hand running over the skull and bones printed on his t-shirt, then frowned up at Andrew. “What’s wrong with my clothes?” Nicholas asked. “This t-shirt’s vintage!”

Vintage would have not been Andrew’s first choice to describe that particular piece of clothing, but he managed to hold back his laugh. “I’m tired of the black-on-black look. You used to dress much better than that. You’re like a caricature of a vampire.”

“Fine.” Nicholas snickered and passed a hand through his jet-black hair. “I’ll dye my hair blue. Will that be colorful enough for you?”

“Can’t wait to see that,” Andrew deadpanned. “Is money all you want?”

“I want…” Nicholas was quick to catch himself and flashed Andrew a grin. “That is, I would like you to tell Craig to stop looking at me like he’s about to stake me.”

Andrew shrugged. “He’s a Special Enforcer. It’s his job to be wary of vampires.”

“Is it?” For all that Nicholas tried to appear nonchalant, there was a glint in his eyes, a little something that spoke of suspicions and jealousy. “Then why does he look at you like you’re the second coming? If he wasn’t making eyes at Julie, I’d start thinking he wants to get in your bed.”

“Craig is making eyes at Julie?” Andrew repeated, certain he must have misunderstood.

Nicholas looked at Andrew as though he had sprouted a second head. “Of course he is,” Nicholas scoffed. “What are you, blind?”

Frowning and very aware that Julie was in the room next door, Andrew lowered his voice. “Really? And is she making eyes in return?”

Now, Nicholas snickered. “You are blind. How could you miss that? It’s happening right under your nose.”

Still a little confused, Andrew thought back about the past few months. Before making his own decision, Craig had waited for Julie to decide whether she would leave town and follow Andrew. Also, a few months earlier, Julie had been so upset when a vampire had hurt Craig that she hadn’t been able to perform magic to help heal him. It was all starting to make sense.

“Huh. Okay.”

“So you’ll tell him?” Nicholas asked. “Because if I tell him, I’m going to make my point with my fists, and I don’t think that’d convince him all that much.”

Andrew let out a deep sigh. Craig and Nicholas were just as stubborn, and just as unlikely to admit they were wrong. “I’ll tell him I trust you. Again. But I can’t force him to like you.”

Nicholas’ fingers linked behind his head, and he affected indifference, but he didn’t fool Andrew. If Craig’s attitude, just a shade shy of openly hostile, hadn’t bothered Nicholas, he wouldn’t have mentioned it in the first place.

“I don’t care if he likes me. I just don’t want to feel threatened in my own home.”

“My home. And maybe if you stopped badgering him—” Pinching the bridge of his nose, Andrew let out a deep sigh. “He wouldn’t touch you. Not unless he caught you red-fanged. Same as me. Anything else?”

Nicholas shifted slightly in his chair; at any other time, the movement might have been meaningless. With the scent that wafted from him, however, full of wariness and expectation, that same movement felt like nervous fidgeting.

Nicholas took a deep breath and said very fast, “Speaking of red fangs… I want to visit blood bars to—”

Without waiting for Nicholas to finish, Andrew shook his head. All he said was, “No,” but every ounce of authority he possessed weighted that word.

“Wait, let me explain—”

Andrew interrupted Nicholas again. The faster Nicholas understood this was not up for discussion, the better. “There’s nothing you can say that will make me change my mind.”

“But it’s legal!” Nicholas snapped. “And the humans are willing, so—”

“No,” Andrew said again, just as sternly as before. His voice was even colder when he added, “That’s where you started killing. Maybe they weren’t called blood bars at the time, but that’s what those places were, and you know it.”

A wounded expression crossed Nicholas’ face, as though he had just been slapped without warning or cause. “You think I want to kill again?”

“No,” Andrew said immediately, truthfully. “I think accidents happen. I think they happen fast. You told me the first time you killed you didn’t mean to. I don’t want you to get in a situation where it could happen again.”

I don’t want to be in a situation where I would have to kill you, was what Andrew really meant, but he couldn’t say it. He didn’t want Nicholas to ask if Andrew could really kill him. Andrew didn’t know how he would answer that.

“Besides,” Andrew added after a moment, “I told you when you first moved in you’d have to keep a low profile. Blood bars aren’t exactly discreet.”

Nicholas gave Andrew a sullen look and all but growled, “I miss biting.”

A flash of surprise left Andrew momentarily speechless. He would never have imagined that this was why Nicholas wanted to go to a blood bar, not with his history. But now that Nicholas had laid it out in words, Andrew could understand it all too well. It didn’t even occur to him to question it.

“Come here,” Andrew demanded, the gentleness in his voice softening the order. When Nicholas didn’t immediately move, Andrew held out his hand toward him, wrist up, bare, offered.

Something flashed in Nicholas’ eyes, gold like lust and need. He took slow steps around the desk to Andrew’s side, but rather than taking Andrew’s wrist, Nicholas only looked at it, and traced the visible vein with a fingertip. His expression was one of hunger, so why wasn’t he biting already?

The flicker of Nicholas’ eyes clued Andrew in. It was so quick that Andrew could have missed it, but it was also unmistakably directed at his neck. Understanding, Andrew sighed. “You’re too greedy for your own good,” he muttered, and grabbed Nicholas’ hand.

Andrew tugged until Nicholas climbed onto his lap, knees wedged against the sides of the chair on either side of him. As Andrew tilted his head to one side, Nicholas started to lean forward, a glimpse of fangs just peeking through his parted lips. Nicholas stopped before his mouth touched skin, however, and he gave Andrew a questioning look.

“Go ahead,” Andrew whispered. “Neatly now, boy. Don’t stain my shirt.”

REMEMBER: Get in on the contests mentioned above.

2011-03-07T09:13:00.000-06:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

ANNA del C. DYE

CONTEST: Anna will give away The Elf and the Princess (e-book format) to on lucky commenter. To enter they would need to leave a comment on this blog. On Sunday March 13^th she will award the the first book in The Silent Warrior Trilogy. Make sure you include your contact information in case you win. Good luck!

AL: Hi Anna! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Anna: It is my pleasure to be here.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Anna: My life has been quite busy lately. My only daughter just gave birth to a little girl and I get to take care of her while mom and dad work. My daughter tried for five years to bring this little one here and now she is finally with us.

AL: Would you like to tell us about a current or upcoming release?

Anna: After the great success of “The Silent Warrior Trilogy,” I have created four more books in the Elf series. No, they have nothing to do with the seven books in Harry Potter, just a coincidence. The first stand-alone book after the trilogy “The Curse of the Elfs,” should be released in April 2011.

AL: What other fantasy tale are you weaving for us?

Anna: At this time I am working on “The Royal Elf of Abalon” another stand-alone book that will debut April 2012.

AL: What fantasy bug bit you and got you started writing these mystical tales?

Anna: It was a great masterful bug and it bit me hard a few years ago—J. R. R. Tolkien. I love Lord of the Rings.

AL: What’s the first rule in building a fantasy world?

Anna: To stay true to the rules. If you say beings in that world don’t do something, don’t have them doing it later without explaining what changed so that now they can do what you said they couldn’t.

AL: Have you ever wanted to write your book in one direction but your characters wanted to go in another direction. What did you do in such a situation?

Anna: Your characters are the most important parts of your book. So, if they want to go left you go left, even if you wanted to go right. If you don’t, it will be quite hard to make them change and your tale will feel forced. I want my tale to go smoothly so I don’t fight the characters, they do know better than me.

AL: It’s time to get personal! If you could go anywhere in the world and in any time…where would you go? What would you do? And why that time-period?

Anna: I would go to the medieval era. Sword fights, knights in shining armor, castles and maidens is what I am all about. I wouldn’t mind some elfs sprinkled here and there.

I’m a professional seamstress so I see myself working on their clothes. Coloring the cloth, cutting, sewing, and seeing those gorgeous dresses being worn would be manna to my soul.

AL: Sometimes people envision an author’s life as being really glamorous. I like to set them straight, so tell us what’s the most unglamorous thing you’ve done in the past week?

Anna: Burp a baby and change dirty diapers. I did love it though.

AL: If your muse were to talk behind your back, what secrets would he/she tell?

Anna: They would say that in my closet all my hangers hang the same direction and that I fall asleep holding hands with my hubby.

AL: What's your favorite music?

Anna: Romantic, hands down. Soft rock, a lot of oldies… The Platters, The Stylistics, Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis ; more recent artists: Il Divo, Julio Iglesias, Celine Dion, etc.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Anna: Well I have a Writer’s Festival in Tooele, Utah at the end of March. I will be doing five 30-minute presentations about writing, and a book signing that afternoon. The “Curse of the Elfs” launch should be the first week of April, with a book signing at the Taylorsville Curves. I will be at an all day Fools Day Faire on April 9th with a book signing. The first three weekends of May I will be at the Fantasy and Renascence Faire, at Clark-Slattersville, Utah. More of the same activities are planned after May. The biggest highlight would be the September, the yearly League of Utah Writer’s Convention where I am in charge of the Published Books Award. And the yearly book drive to benefit local Utah Elementary Schools in October.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Anna: Do unto others as you will want them do unto you. I am a big believer of paying it forward.

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Anna.

Anna: Thank you for inviting me to come. I had a wonderful time visiting with you.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Anna please visit:
http://www.annadelc.com
And to read reviews of Anna’s books visit:
http://ning.it/dIqC6n
Barnes & Noble:
http://ning.it/evrfne

FEATURED TITLE: THE CURSE OF THE ELFS

Blurb:

When an Immortal race ceases to be immortal woe to the land.

Ancient legend tells of elfs crossing paths with a dying wizard named Zoltan. The Old Sorcerer’s unrepentant deeds had caused the wizarding school to chastise him severely. On his deathbed Zoltan asked the unsuspecting elfs for help. Losing patience in his delirium, he cursed them. Now, the immortal elfin race is slowly, but surely dying.

Their only hope lies in a servant of kings who must learn to love the elfs before he will attempt to save them. But no one, elf or mankind, has ever heard of this man. Can the healer be found before their race is gone forever?

Inspired by Tolkien’s masterpiece, Anna del C. has created a brilliant unique medieval tale. Curse of the Elfs is full of high adventure, romance and battles that will leave you awed from beginning to end.

Excerpt:

I am worried sick about my wife Katelynn; she is great with child, and is with me, here in Altair, where a perilous battle will erupt at any moment. My name is Lathenyl, and I was unable to make her stay safely in Rolarin, the mankind city, where we live. She was adamant about being with me when our baby was born. So, unknown to me, she followed after I left to battle our old enemies here in the south.

Not many mixed marriages like ours are blessed with descendants; in fact not many elf couples in this land are thus blessed either. The surprising prospect of a baby almost overwhelmed us with joy… but now…

“My dearest love… What have you done?” I am deeply saddened as I watch her sleep—so precious and in so much danger.

I sense that the next battle might be our last, and the mere thought of her presence here causes me to tremble.

“Elfs are meant to protect and defend their women, son,” my father’s voice came from my memory. “It is our charge to do so with our lives.”

“I know… I tried and failed...” my frustration burst out through clenched teeth. “I left her days away from this frightful place… But, now she is here in the midst of a city that holds no hope for us."

REMEMBER: Anna will give away The Elf and the Princess (e-book format) to on lucky commenter. To enter they would need to leave a comment on this blog. On Sunday March 13th she will award the the first book in The Silent Warrior Trilogy. Make sure you include your contact information in case you win. Good luck!

2011-02-15T08:25:00.000-06:00

GIVE-AWAY EXTRAVAGANZA-
Celebrating the month of Love with Romance Authors and their Men

Please stop by! I'm giving away a free download to one lucky winner and there are several
other authors. Our signifigant others share what it's like being married to a romance novelist.

http://selenarobinsmusings.wordpress.com/

See you there!
Ann

2011-02-14T08:32:00.000-06:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

STEPHANIE BECK

CONTEST: At the end of the week, Stephanie will choose a random commenter for their pick of a book from her ebook backlist. Good luck!

AL: Hi Stephanie! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Stephanie: I’m very happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Stephanie: Well, as of February 14th, our third child is officially due. My husband and daughters are as thrilled as I am to have a little boy coming. Between helping at church and getting piles of knitting done, the baby thing has taken up a good portion of my time.

AL: Would you like to tell us about a current or upcoming release?

Stephanie: There are so many coming now! I’m very happy to announce two new contracts from Decadent Publishing—one erotic and the other under my pen name Stephanie J Grace that is much sweeter. Also, I’m working with six other great authors on an anthology project called Seven Deadly Sins. We’re all writing erotica stories featuring one of the sins. Mine happens to be gluttony and it is so much fun.

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Stephanie: There are a few paranormal stories in the works (I like werewolves this year) and there’s a possible ménage trying to come together, but it’s taking a little work. There are always several things simmering at once in my mind and computer, it’s just a matter of finding the time and gumption to coax them to come together.

AL: What is the most difficult part of being a writer and do you write whenever the mood strikes, or do you have a specific routine?

Stephanie: The hardest part of being a writer is making the time and drive join forces to get serious work done with a limited timeframe. I try to write even when I’m not in the mood to be super creative. Even if it’s doing a critique or working on promotions, I do my best to sit my buns down every day and get something down in writing.

AL: Do you believe a person has to have a special type of personality to write erotic romance?

Stephanie: I don’t think erotica writers need any more labels. The population is so varied that I don’t think there is a core personality type that fits the bill of what a good erotic romance writer needs to be. What is needed though, is a respect and love for the genre, stories and characters. When that love is there, then any personality type can give erotic romance a shot.

AL: Is there an author(s) out there that you’d love to do an anthology with?

Stephanie: Hmm, Sherlynn Kenyon, Nora Roberts, Julie Garwood, Lora Leigh and Catherine Coulter—I know it’s a mix of styles and genres, but throw Stephanie Beck in there and that’s an anthology I’d read ALL day long.

AL: It’s time to get personal! What is the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

Stephanie: I went to an erotica lecture last spring. Not only was I a very new romance writer, I didn’t know the area very well either. So, I ended up in downtown St. Paul on a Friday night, lost and looking for a sex shop. I did find the shop and the lecture was very nice, even though I blushed through the entire thing, mainly because the lady leading the talk sat under a huge picture of a vagina. That little touch of adventure has lasted me quite a while.

AL: Valentine’s Day is here! Is there anything special you and your significant other plan for that day?

Stephanie: I’m hoping to have a baby! He is due February 14th, so ideally my honey and I will be celebrate as new parents again. Short of that, I’ll need a lot of chocolate, cheesecake and a backrub.

AL: Best movie you've seen recently?

Stephanie: Jeez, nothing lately. The last decent movie I saw was Zombieland and that’s not so new anymore.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Stephanie: 2011 will be a fantastic year. I’m excited for the family and writing portions. I’m hoping to have a few more releases and I hope that the agent search finally turns up someone fantastic to help make 2012 even better.

AL: Fun question! If you had to write yourself as a villain, what kind of villain would you be? What would you be named?

Stephanie: Oh I’d be an awesome villain. I’d want one of those truly awful names like Sandy Fagina and I’d murder with stilettos and poisoned cupcakes.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Stephanie: My locker in high school was full of interesting and inspiration quotes I found in books and other places. My favorite was from John Donne’s “Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions” The whole passage is wonderful, but I love this portion.

…all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated…

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Stephanie.

Stephanie: You bet! I love visiting with authors and readers. Thanks so much for having me and Happy Valentines Day!

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Stephanie please visit:

www.stephaniebeck.net
www.facebook.com/StephanieBeckAuthor

FEATURED TITLE: DAVID'S ANGEL

Blurb:

When kink and reality collide, compromise and love keep everyone satisfied.

Living a BDSM lifestyle, Polly is devastated when her husband and Dom of ten years dies.
Although she is capable of supporting her daughters and maintaining her home, she aches for the companionship of a partner and the dominance of a sexual master.

A decade has passed since David lost Polly to his best friend. For ten years she had been the one who got away and his desire to be with her never faded. With the death of Polly’s husband bringing them back together, their attraction is instantly rekindled.

Settling into the role of surrogate father and dominating partner, David knows the family needs time to heal. But will the questions people ask about their lifestyle and betrayal within their BDSM group be challenges too great to overcome?

Excerpt:

“Lie in the middle of the bed.”

Polly knew to do that. Humiliation waved over her again as she’d once again disappointed him.

The comforter was pulled away so she went straight to the bed. She lay on the white top sheet, taking David’s instructions as literally as possible. She kept her ankles slightly apart and hands at her side. It was an inviting pose, one that said she would be led. She didn’t know where he was taking her, but she was willing.

He stepped around the bed and pulled the sheet. It took only a minute before he had one side tucked around her, binding her arms to her body and her legs together. He did the same with the other side, leaving her face uncovered but turning her into a burrito. Could Mark have told him she loved the restricted pose? She felt calm seep into her, warmth and serenity infused as she had nothing to do and no demand to do more.

“You asked to come upstairs with me.” David stretched out beside her on the bed, still dressed, with his back against the headboard. “This surprised me. It makes me wonder if it’s the wine loosening you up. It also makes me wonder what the letter said for you to change so suddenly.”

“David—”

“No. I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but I’ll want answers in the morning. Is this going to be an every-night occurrence? Will you expect sex? We’ve kept the lifestyle to a minimum, but it’s time for you to think of what your demands are for our relationship and what exactly you expect us to be. Dom and Sub? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Husband and wife? I want you to think of those specifications, and we’ll discuss it tomorrow.”

“I already know—”

“No.”

“But—”

She didn’t have to wait for his verbal reprimand, because he put his hand over her mouth. It was gentle, but firm and made his message clear. Aggravation tore through her. She hated when people didn’t at least listen. She licked his hand. Something flashed in his eyes. She wasn’t sure if it was anger or lust but she did recognize the disappointment when he reached to his bedside table and pulled out a ball gag.

REMEMBER: At the end of the week, Stephanie will choose a random commenter for their pick of a book from her ebook backlist. Make sure to leave a comment!

2011-02-02T18:04:00.000-06:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

Jane Lovering

CONTEST: Since Please Don’t Stop the Music is a romantic comedy, I’d like to give away a copy to one commenter who tells me an amusing story of real-life romance. It can be their own, or a friend’s, but I’d like to hear about all those ways in which falling in love can be one big laugh!

AL: Hi Jane! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Jane: Thank you for allowing me to burst in and ruin your carpet in this fashion. It’s very understanding of you.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Jane: Well, I work in a school, run a house, five kids, two dogs and a husband, so everything is pretty busy most of the time. When I occasionally surface, well, I’ve just taken up the horse riding that I haven’t done properly for years, and I sometimes have time to read a book or two.

But mostly it’s trying to get to the bottom of the laundry pile, cook food that doesn’t poison anyone, and remember not to leave the house in my slippers.

AL: Tell us what you have on the bookshelf for us to read.

Jane: My third novel, Please Don’t Stop the Music hits the stands on 01 February, to keep my previous books Slightly Foxed and Reversing Over Liberace company. Please Don’t Stop.. is
my first release from British indie publisher, Choc Lit, and I’m looking forward to hearing what

people have to say about it!

AL: What other works are you deep into?

Jane: I’ve got another novel due out in September called Starstruck, which is another romantic comedy set at a Sci-Fi convention in Nevada, I’m working up a vampire trilogy and I’m on the first draft of a novel about an astrophysicist who sees mysterious lights in the sky. So, you know. Quite a few irons in the fire there.

AL: Have you ever wanted to write your book in one direction but your characters wanted to go in another direction. What did you do in such a situation?

Jane: It happens all the time. Most of the books I write, I start with the characters but not much of a clue as to which way the story will go, and I let the people dictate the action. I did once try to steer things (in the vampire books, as it happens), but then it all ended up with everyone trying to turn evil and, let’s face it, a book full of baddies isn’t really much of a read, is it? So I deleted everything, waited a few weeks for everyone to come to their senses, and then went back to the beginning and let them get on with the book they way they wanted it to happen. It turned out all right, I think. But I learned not to try to force a book to go the way I think it should.

AL: Which of your hero(s)/heroine(s) is most similar to you?

Jane: They all have aspects of me, but I like my heroes and heroines to be a bit more complicated than I am. My life and character would bore any reader to tears within seconds, so I tend to invent people who have interesting personality glitches or physical flaws that make them behave in sometimes quite bizarre ways. Of course, my friends and family will tell you that’s me to a T, but I maintain that I am quite normal. For a person made of cheese.

AL: Where do you get your ideas? Do you jot them down in a notebook in case you forget?

Jane: Ideas are sleeting through my head at all times, but I usually manage to ignore them unless I need to start a new WIP, when I attempt to capture one or two and force them into submission. I sometimes write things down in a battered notebook which resides beside my bed, but I have most of my ideas in writing-unfriendly situations, such as driving the car or showering, so I rely on memory a great deal. Which is strange, because I can remember plot points and character arcs and yet forget to buy that loaf of bread that I actually went out for. Whilst still in my slippers. One of these days I’m going to leave the house completely naked because I’m trying to keep a particularly juicy storyline in my head. There’s only so many memory cells…

AL: It’s time to get personal! What type of music do you relax to?

Jane: I love Pendulum, because I’m a big fan of drum n’ bass. I like FallOut Boy (was destroyed when they disbanded), My Chemical Romance, Hadouken… loud, shouty kinds of music with a good hook. And Gregorian Plainsong chants, for some reason. Antidote, probably.

AL: If I asked your best friend what type of person you are, what would he or she tell me?

Jane: Well, you’d have to bust them out of the asylum first, of course. Then they’d probably tell you that I’m bossy, noisy, slightly bonkers and…d’you know, I really need new friends…

AL: Where would you like to travel if you had the chance?

Jane: I’d love to go back to Slovenia, where I went last summer, and found to be the most beautiful place. Africa, Japan and New Zealand also beckon, where they are probably, even now, changing the visa laws to stop me ever setting foot.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Jane: I’ve got the two books coming out this year, hopefully another one or two next year… so it’s pretty much writing and marketing all the way! I’m also hoping to travel a bit; in the next two years three of the children will be off to University and the remaining one can mind the pets. I’d also like to perfect my jumping technique and make those figure-eights just a little more rounded. Oh, and eat more chocolate. Must pencil that in.

AL: Fun question! If you could meet someone famous in either history, or present day…who would you like to meet and why?

Jane: I’d love to meet Casanova, just to have the opportunity to tell him he’s not my type.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Jane: “Sweet, maybe… passionate, I suppose… but don’t ever mistake that for nice.” It’s a Doctor Who quote that I’ve actually worked into Starstruck. Applies to so many people, although I exempt myself from that list, being neither sweet nor passionate. But I am a rabid Doctor Who fan.

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Jane.

Jane: You’re welcome. I’ll show myself out, shall I? Oh, and thanks for not mentioning the stains…

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Jane please visit:

www.janelovering.co.uk
www.choc-lit.co.uk

FEATURED TITLE: PLEASE DON'T STOP THE MUSIC

Blurb:

How much can you hide?

Jemima Hutton is determined to build a successful new life and keep her past a dark secret. Trouble is, her jewellery business looks set to fail - until enigmatic Ben Davies offers to stock her handmade belt buckles in his guitar shop and things start looking up, on all fronts.

But Ben has secrets too. When Jemima finds out he used to be the front man of hugely successful Indie rock band Willow Down, she wants to know more. Why did he desert the band on their US tour? Why is he now a semi-recluse? And the curiosity is mutual - which means that her own secret is no longer safe ...

Excerpt:

I squeezed past Jason, who was on his way up the stairs with Harry, and opened the front door to Ben. He was carrying a bottle of wine, wearing a suit minus the jacket and with the top shirt button undone. He had his hair loose but sort of swept back. It suited him.

“Hello.” We faced each other across the crumbling front step.

“You found us all right then?” I took the bottle he held out.

“Your instructions were great. The taxi driver never knew this place existed before now, it’s a lovely village.”

“Thank you,” I replied without thinking.

“Build it yourself then, did you?”

“Ah, I see Mister Polite has released control of your body. Come in.”

Ben followed me into the living room and then we stood, side by side, silent. He was wearing the nice aftershave again. “This is fun,” he said finally.

“Yes. Not a bit awkward or anything.” I could see him eyeing up the dress, and to forestall any difficult questions I grabbed the bottle from the dining table and poured him a glass of white wine. “So. Sit down.”

“Yes! Ma’am!”

“I didn’t mean – ” I took a giant sip of my wine. “Please. Sit down. If you can bear to soil yourself with our petty furniture that is.”

“I’ll try.” Ben sat. I perched on the arm of the saggy but comfortable chair opposite and carried on drinking. “So, is it just yourself here or–?”

“Oh, no, I share the place with Rosie. She’s my friend, the one I told you about.”

“Harry’s mum?”

“Yes.”

“Right.” Ben took a sip of his wine and looked around at the walls. They were plain stone, whitewashed and hung with several of Rosie’s pictures, but even so they didn’t merit quite the scrutiny that he was giving them. The silence stretched.

“Dinner will only be a minute!” Rosie stuck her head into the room again and I seized on the distraction.

“Ben, this is Rosie. Rosie, this is, obviously, Ben.”

Ben stood up and smiled. “Hello.”

Rosie came out of the doorway towards us, grinning a grin which slowly left her face and she turned to stare at me.

“Jemima?” she asked.

“What? You told me to invite Ben, so I did. That’s still all right, isn’t it?”

Rosie looked from me to Ben and back again. “Well, yes, of course. Sorry, I’m just – distracted. Um. Nice to meet you – Ben. Jem, could you come and give me a quick hand, the chilli is playing up out here.”

“All right.” I followed her into the tiny kitchen which was full of bubbling noises and steam, which accounted for the frantic nature of her curls. She shut the door behind us.

“Jemima!”

“What?” I was genuinely puzzled by her reaction. “I know he’s a bit skinny but he’s OK, honestly. Well mostly OK. Especially when he’s not wearing Lycra.”

Rosie dropped her voice so that it was barely audible over the sound of the boiling. “Don’t you know who he is?”

“Yes, I already said. It’s Ben.”

Rosie ran her hands through her curls. She now looked as though she’d been attacked by an evil hairdresser. “Jemima,” she said very evenly. “I know I’ve never asked questions about your past or anything but just tell me this. Did you spend the last five years on the moon? That man, in there,” Rosie put both hands on my shoulders. “That man. That is Baz Davies.”

“His name’s Ben.”

“No!” Rosie shook me now. “Baz Davies! The Baz Davies. Lead singer and guitarist in the biggest band to come out of Yorkshire in the last ten years and I am including the Arctic Monkeys in that. Haven’t you ever heard of Willow Down?” She sighed. “Listen. Willow Down. Huge. Sensation. Made Coldplay look like some outfit touting round Working Men’s Clubs. Went to the States. Huge in States. Baz Davies...” she flung out an arm to indicate the living room, “... dropped out. Went to ground. Band fell apart.”

Benedict Arthur Zacchary Davies.

“Oh,” I said.

“He’s been off the radar for five years.. No-one knows what happened, they were in the middle of a tour of the States that was, apparently, phenomenal. I saw them once.” Rosie’s eyes suddenly went misty. “Fibbers, that club in York. They played Foolish Words, my favourite, I got drunk and went home with a bloke who turned out to be hung like a mule. Ah, happy days.”

I walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room. Ben was still perched on the edge of the sofa, rolling his now empty glass between his fingers.

“We subdued the chilli but I’m afraid the rice might go for your throat,” I said.

Ben looked at me. “You know.”

“What? That you used to be in a band? Yes. Rosie recognised you. Saw you play Fibbers, apparently.”

He gave a short laugh, then shook his head. “That’s gone, not me any more. This is who I am.”

I felt a little tremble down my spine. “Yes.”

“I’m not that person now.” Ben stood up.

“I understand.”

“I’d better go.” Ben handed me the glass. “I’m sorry. I thought it would be all right, but people keep – it’s like they won’t let it go.”

REMEMBER: Since Please Don’t Stop the Music is a romantic comedy, I’d like to give away a copy to one commenter who tells me an amusing story of real-life romance. It can be their own, or a friend’s, but I’d like to hear about all those ways in which falling in love can be one big laugh!

2011-01-31T08:28:00.000-06:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

EVE LANGLAIS

CONTEST: Eve will give one lucky commenter a copy of Chance’s Game. She's going to make it super simple to enter. Just leave a comment with your email address. No trivia, no hoops to jump through, just a simple hello and a way to contact you if you win. Using a random number generator on the web, she’ll then draw a number to see who wins on February 6^th. Thanks in advance for participating. :-)

AL: Hi Eve! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Eve: Thanks for dragging me out of my writing cave to visit lol.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Eve: It seems like my life is a never ending hustle and bustle. The kids are definitely keeping me hopping this winter, between school, sports and other activities, it seems like our family is always on the go. And to mix things up, each week they’re bringing home some new illness from school. Thank goodness for my hubby who helps me keep my sanity.

AL: Do you have a current, or upcoming release you’d like to tell us about?

Eve: I’d love to tell you about my fantasy romance, Chance’s Game, scheduled to release with Champagne Books on February 7th. A little different from my more erotic pieces, Chance’s Game is a sensual fairytale type story with lots of magic, some meddlesome gods and tons of adventure. Oh, and sexual tension. The heroine is determined to avoid marriage and men, but she didn’t count on a wizard making her decision hard to uphold. If you enjoy humor and lots of build up to the main event, then this full length piece will be a definite treat for romance lovers.

AL: What other spicy tales are you weaving for us?

Eve: I’m always hard at work on creating entertaining stories that veer off in new and naughty directions. Right now, I’m working on my third installment in my Princess Of Hell books. It’s a hilarious series following the life and adventures of Satan’s daughter. I’m also mentally fleshing out a new werewolf piece featuring a delicious alpha .

AL: How do you decide upon your settings? What about the names of characters? Do you ever change either mid-stream into a story?

Eve: I actually spend little time on settings, concentrating more on character interaction via dialogue and action. I tend to try and keep my settings generic so readers can picture the story happening wherever they happen to live. That is unless I’m somewhere fabulously unique like Hell. When my story demands we leave the mortal plane, I love to let my creative juices flow to create a unique world that has twisted parallels to earth.

AL: What was the defining moment when you realized you wanted to be a writer?

Eve: I always wanted to be a writer from the first time I penned a story in grade school. However, the bills had to be paid and reality pushed that dream aside for a long time. Just under two years ago after almost 20 years of writing nothing, the urge to try my hand at writing hit. Since then, I’ve been typing furiously with great result. In retrospect, I don’t consider those 20 years wasted though as I think life experiences have given me the maturity I needed to create believable characters not to mention the perseverance to write.

AL: What do you feel is the most important thing that a first-time author should know?

Eve: Write. And then write some more. I see a lot of newbie authors worrying about who they’ll submit too, should they use an agent, did they use the word was or just or seems too many times. The thing they forget it seems is that the most important thing is to finish that story. Get it down in its entirety, then revise. But don’t overdo it. Send it out once it’s cleaned up so you can start on the next piece. A person could spend months or years editing and agonizing over their work, but they’ll never know if it’s any good until they send it out to some publishers and get some feedback.

AL: It’s time to get personal! When you have time just for you (if only) what do you do?

Eve: I read. LOL. I am a huge book worm and devour paranormal romance when I get the chance. I also enjoy playing video games and watching reality shows like Hoarders, Survivor, Big Brother and Property Virgins.

AL: What decadent delight must you have no matter what?

Eve: Chips, and if I can dip. My husband calls me a chip-aholic. I don’t like to share and I have been known to groan in delight when munching on them.

AL: What annoys you enough to be considered a pet peeve?

Eve: I hate being late. I would rather be stupidly early than even one second late. My husband drives me nuts because he’s the kind of guy who thinks a minute or two late is no big deal.

AL: Can you share some of your plans for 2011 and beyond?

Eve: Lots and lots of writing :-) I’ve got some series begging for sequels, a couple of awesome ideas kicking around in my head, and a hand itching to get it all typed. Writing is like an obsession and I don’t see that stopping anytime soon.

AL: Fun question! You have just won five thousand dollars! But...you have to spend it all today. What will you buy?

Eve: OMG, can I be responsible and say pay off the mini van? LOL, I am debt obsessed. If I had to splurge though, I’d have to go with a hot tub. A good long soak that leaves me boneless like jelly and wrinkled like a prune would be heavenly.

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Eve: Here’s a giggler from Last Minion Standing:

“Cursing technology but wondering who could be calling at this hour, I let go of Bob--it’s not like I was getting anywhere--and grabbed my cell. A glance at the display showed a number I didn’t recognize. Maybe if I was lucky it would be an obscene caller who’d have suggestions on how I could get off.

I answered in my sexy voice. “Hello.”

“Are you touching yourself?”

I almost dropped the phone in shock. I hadn’t actually expected a naughty caller. Things were looking up.”

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Eve.

Eve: My pleasure, Ann. I’d also like to thank anybody who took the time to pop by and read. It’s nice to meet you :-) I do hope you’ll leave a comment and enter for a chance to win an e-copy of Chance’s Game.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Eve please visit:

http://www.EveLanglais.com

FEATURED TITLE: CHANCE'S GAME

Blurb:

The God of Chance is bored--mortals beware!

Breanna is a rare sort of shapeshifter, even for a world where magic is rampant. Rare enough that she catches the attention of the God of Chance who sends her on a quest to free magic. Simple you say? Not for this girl who has to keep avoiding the men who would claim her, while getting to know a twin she just discovered. Then to make things even more fun, Chance throws in a super sexy wizard to go on the quest with her. As you can imagine, the outcome ends up magical.

Lots of magic, danger, meddlesome gods and romance await and when the quest is done, the world as we know it, will never be the same again.

Excerpt:

“You will be mine,” said a self assured voice from behind her--a hated, nasal voice belonging to one who followed his words with a grab for her ass that she quickly dodged. She’d had enough practice in the last few years. It still pissed her off though. All men are pigs!

Breanna spun around furious. “Get your filthy hands away from me, Cedric. For the hundredth time, I will never be yours. Go bug someone with no taste.”

The young man named Cedric, narrowed his eyes and sneered at her rebuke, making his unattractive, angular face even uglier. Yuck–imagine waking up to that nasty face every morning? Not!

“Who said you had a choice in the matter, Breanna? I’ve already spoken to my father; he’s willing to give your father a sizable dowry. It won’t matter what you want. If your father accepts, you will be my wife.”

Breanna laughed, a throaty sound that sent more than one admiring male look her way. “My father has a lot more sense than you and your father combined. He won’t be bought, so you and your father should shop elsewhere for a bride. Now go away. Can’t you see I’m busy?” She shooed him away with an irritated sweep of her hands. I wonder if you can call browsing odd and ends looking for something interesting, busy? Still better than wasting breath talking to an idiot though.

“When we are married,” Cedric continued obstinately. “I will beat that sharp tongue out of you. Your father obviously did not do his duty by you and teach you the proper manners required of a woman. I’ll teach you how to act respectfully with great pleasure. It’s time you learned your place in the world--on your knees in front of me.” Cedric brayed in laughter at his own poor jest.

Breanna just gaped at him in disbelief. The Higher Powers save her from stupid men, which in the last couple of years seemed to have multiplied, judging by the obscene number of pick-up lines she’d been subjected to. Like “Hey baby, I’ve got a sausage you can chew on.” Or how about, “I'd like to wrap your legs around my head and wear you like a feed bag!” And finally the most common one, “I know you want it, so stop playing hard to get.” Eew! Seriously, do any of those actually work?

And what was with this subservient crap they all seemed to expect from her. If she ever did marry, which at this point seemed less and less likely, she’d want someone who would respect her as an equal. Just because she lacked something between the legs did not make her stupid or weak. Unfortunately, though she kept pointing out this most obvious fact, her would-be suitors seemed deaf and persisted in their belief that she would eventually swoon at their crude attempts to coerce and bully her into marriage and their beds. Not bloody likely.

“Go away, Cedric. You’re boring me. I am not going to marry you. Why don’t you crawl back to the hole you came from?” Breanna knew she shouldn’t have said it. Her father always told her that her smart mouth would get her into trouble one day. But she’d had quite enough of Cedric, actually of all men in general.

Being an idiot though, Cedric couldn’t grasp the idea that she just wasn’t interested and he latched an iron grip, stronger than she would have credited him with, around her wrist and started yanking her towards the alley between the shops.Oh come on, he can’t be that stupid. Breanna opened her mouth to give him a chance to let her go before she hurt him, when a deep voice spoke from behind her. “I believe the lady is unwilling.”

Cedric stopped pulling and sneered at her would be rescuer over her shoulder.

“Mind your business stranger. The lady will be willing enough once I get her skirts high enough. I mean to have her one way or another. Now go about your business before things go badly for you.” A knife appeared out of nowhere in Cedric’s free hand and Breanna gasped.

Now this is going too far and she opened her mouth to say so, but before she could say a word, her unseen saviour chuckled in amusement and the deep throaty sound sent a shiver through her. Mmm, does the rest of him look as hot as he sounds? Breanna almost gasped aloud at the direction of her thoughts. Since when do I care what a man looks like?

"Did your father never teach you to respect women? Or an even better, a lesson about not threatening wizards?” said her would-be hero in a sexy menacing tone and Breanna held back a giggle at the look on Cedric’s face which turned quite green when he heard the word wizard.

Breanna felt a tingle of power from behind her and the blade in Cedric’s hand turned cherry red as it heated up. Cedric dropped it with a yelp and shoved his blistered fingers into his mouth.

Nice trick, Breanna thought, but unfortunate as resorting to magic probably means my rescuer is going to be some pale, gangly youth with knobby knees. A real hero would have known how to disarm a poor excuse for a man like Cedric. Hell, another minute and I’d have had him crying for his mother.

“Bloody wizard,” Cedric said, finally letting go of Breanna and backing away. “This is not over, Breanna,” he threatened, still unbelievably stupid given the situation, then he shape-shifted into the rat that he truly was and scurried away.

She made a mental note of Cedric’s shifting animal for the next time--knowing there would a next time, his brain apparently couldn’t comprehend the word ‘No’. She looked forward to his next attempt for she knew a certain feline that would delight in pulling off his pink rat tail. Meow!

Breanna whirled to thank her hero, even though she hadn’t really needed rescuing, and her eyes went wide when she beheld him.

Wow, he most definitely does not have knobby knees.

Tongue tied, she could only gape at him, for the first time in her life stunned by the looks of a man. And what a man!

Towering over her was the epitome of masculinity. Over six feet with shoulders that must surely brush doorways, he had a lean body that tapered at the hips. Nothing weak looking here. His entire being oozed power from his snug breeches hugging his heavily muscled thighs to his square jawed, rugged face. Thick, wavy blond hair brushed his shoulders, silky looking, enough that Breanna had to fight an urge to run her fingers through to see if it the texture was as soft as it looked. He had perfectly arched brows, and even though he was light haired, he had long dark lashes to frame the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. Wow.

Breanna mentally shook herself. What the hell had come over her? Since when does the sight a man--even one this gorgeous--strike me dumb? And the tingles in my tummy.... Must be hunger, never mind the fact she’d had lunch less than an hour ago. She must be hungry again already, there could be no other explanation for the way she felt.

As those gorgeous eyes crinkled at her perusal, Breanna gathered her wits and said, “Thank you sir wizard for your timely intervention.” Although if he’d given me just another minute I would have handled the situation myself. Just like a man to assume a woman needs saving.

“’Twas my pleasure,” he drawled, the corner of his lips lifting in a half smile. “Perhaps you could thank me by joining me for lunch.”

Men, they’re all the same, thought Breanna huffily. First he saved her, now he wanted lunch. What next, a roll in the hay? Although her tummy still tingled. Maybe a small bite...

REMEMBER: Eve will give one lucky commenter a copy of Chance’s Game. She's going to make it super simple to enter. Just leave a comment with your email address. No trivia, no hoops to jump through, just a simple hello and a way to contact you if you win. Using a random number generator on the web, she’ll then draw a number to see who wins on February 6th.

2011-01-24T09:39:00.000-06:00

In the Author Spotlight & Contest

Laura Navarre

CONTEST: Laura will be giving away a copy of her new e-book release, my Dark Crusader romance, The Devils' Temptress, in the reader's preferred format. Anyone who posts a response to the blog will be entered. The winner will be drawn and notified after the Spotlight week is finished, and the e-book will be sent on Feb. 15 when it's released.

AL: Hi Laura Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Laura: Thanks for inviting me, Ann! It’s a thrill to share space with so many sexy, exciting reads.

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Laura: This has actually been a very eventful period in my life! I’ve just moved to Seattle, rented a quirky little 1920s-era house overlooking the water and Mt. Rainier, and graduated with my MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from the University of Southern Maine (an awesome low residency program that allows you to write romance or any other genre—horror, urban fantasy, you name it—for your degree). And, most importantly, I’ve recently gotten engaged to the love of my life. :-) Steven is a screenwriter and English professor who was my writing mentor for several years before we realized we’d fallen in love and decided to get married. We first met in 1998, and we were separated for years while I lived abroad, so it’s very much a When Harry Met Sally kind of story.

AL: Please tell us about your Devil series.

Laura: These are three stand-alone historical romances, all very dark and sexy. The Devil’s Temptress is a 2009 Golden Heart finalist about a disgraced Muslim knight and an ardent Christian lady at Eleanor of Aquitaine’s court (Feb. 15 e-book release, August 2011 print). The Devil’s Mistress is a dark Tudor romance about a reluctant lady assassin who’s blackmailed to poison Anne Boleyn (e-book out now, March 1 print release). And The Devil’s Bargain is an unconventional romance, set in late Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest, that features an exiled princess and two very different heroes. My agent’s talking to editors about that one right now, so please keep your fingers crossed for me!

AL: What are you currently working on?

Laura: I’m just starting a Tudor romance with a paranormal twist—which excites me terribly, because I’ve never written a paranormal before! This one is about 80% historical and 20% fantasy, set during the time when Bloody Mary Tudor was burning heretics and her young Protestant sister Elizabeth Tudor was beginning her rise. All my stories have lots of political intrigue, history, and a twisty plot woven into the romance, and this one is no exception.

AL: When you write do you do a detailed outline before you get started or do you have the idea then 'fly by the seat of your pants'?

Laura: I’d love to say I’m a “pantser!” I want to be a pantser. Alas, I fill notebooks with historical research and detailed character sketches before I start drafting, and this time I’ve also got to fit the paranormal world-building into the mix. I like to research until the material is “old hat” for me, and this in-depth knowledge of my world and characters is where the story comes from. I don’t have a clue about plot until I’ve done this work.

AL: How much of your “day job” do you use to write up those deliciously, suspenseful tales?

Laura: It varies! I get up early to write before my other work, and I write on weekends and sometimes in the evenings. Since I just finished my full-time MFA course load after two years of INSANITY (full-time job, plus full-time student, plus author and marketer for the novels!) I’m enjoying the opportunity to spend a little time with my fiancé and, of course, to read other authors’ work.

AL: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?

Laura: When I acquired my agent and sold my first two books within a very short time span in 2009-10, I thought I wanted to make it onto the bestseller lists within five years—and of course that would be nice. :-) But I think my goal is really to tell the unique stories I want to tell—intricate, danger-laced, dark historical romances that also appeal to the historical fiction market, a la Philippa Gregory. If it takes me longer to write and sell the stories, I can live with that.

AL: It’s time to get personal! I have several questions in this one….What made you decide to be a diplomat in Russia and help create weapons of mass destruction, then get the idea to link it to writing romance novels? That’s not something you just roll out of bed one day and say, “Hey, I’m going to be a kick-butt chemist and write sensual romance tales on the side…” What built the bridge between these two careers?

Laura: Well, let me say that I’m not a plotter when it comes to my personal life. :-) If I’d been able to see 20 years ago what I’m doing with my life now, I’m sure I would have been delighted but bemused. I’ve always loved to write, but I chose initially to pursue a career outside the book world because—coming from a family who’s always worked hard to get by—I needed a job that would make some money! So I earned my B.A. in International Relations and Russian language, and my M.A. in National Security, and started doing government work. Since I’m a Russia specialist, many of my assignments have involved the former Soviet Union. And my work has focused on helping the Russians get rid of their excess weapons of mass destruction, not building new ones. :-) The work was uniquely stressful, as you might imagine, so I started writing seriously with an intent to publish as an escape mechanism, as much as to pursue the dream. It took six years, four novels, and 63 rejections before I sold.

AL: You are obviously an animal lover from the two furry kitties on your website. Who are those furry babies? Do you have any other pets?

Laura: Pandora and Delilah are pedigreed Siberian cats I found in Moscow when I was living there. The breed isn’t as well known in the U.S. as some others, but they’re gorgeous long-haired critters with huge plumey tails and tufted ears called “lynx tips.” Lilah is a Siberian sub-breed, very unusual here, called a Neva Masquerade—with long silver fur, big blue eyes, and pewter-colored paws. There are times in my life when those two have felt like my best friends—they’ve flown around the world three times with me. They have little pet passports, and more frequent flyer miles than many people I know!

AL: You’re back in the states and winter is all around us. What is your favorite part of the season? Sweaters? Snow angels? Is there a big difference between a winter in Maine and a winter in Russia?

Laura: Gosh, I think my favorite part of winter is curling up in front of a crackling fire with a glass of red wine, a novel, and a cat in my lap. The winters I’ve spent in Maine have been much colder than the ones I’ve spent in Moscow, lately. Moscow gets a lot of snow, and the days are very short (5-6 hours, and the sun never swings very far above the horizon), but the cold has been far more breathtaking in Maine! Of course, in Russia I’m usually functioning without a car. The traffic is like nothing you’ve ever seen—it can take hours to go six blocks, and it’s very unpredictable, even when people are driving and parking on the sidewalk! So everyone takes the metro, which was built during Soviet times as a bomb shelter/cultural icon and is gorgeous. And all that walking makes it incredibly important to bundle up.

AL: You obviously love to travel -- of the places you visited which was your favorite and why?

Laura: My favorite cities are Istanbul and Venice. In Istanbul, the jumble of mosques and minarets and sprawling outdoor markets steals my heart—not to mention the food (yum!) and all that opulent Islamic art. In Venice, it’s the canals, the haunting knowledge that the water is slowly rising and the city slowly sinking beneath the waves. In front of the houses, you see these stone staircases that plunge down and down and vanish in the canals’ opaque depths; all of that used to be above the surface. And when the city floods, the water rises over the banks and flows right into the houses. It’s crazy, and fascinating, and scary.

AL: Fun question! You’re the actress in a must see blockbuster movie that everyone’s been waiting all summer for. A) What’s the movie about? B) Whose your character? C) And who’s your leading man?

Laura: The movie would be a time travel romance/adventure. I’m a nuclear scientist running an experiment who gets flung back in time to the Crusades. Let’s say I have to find the Ark of the Covenant in order to return to my own time (holy relic as miracle worker) and prevent a looming nuclear war between the Christian west and a Muslim state. But the Ark is being protected by a Muslim knight who has sworn his life to the duty—and taken a vow of chastity to boot. :-) We begin as adversaries, but then fall in love. And I can’t think of a better leading man than my fiancé Steven, who’s an actor-director in addition to his screenwriting identity. Will I choose to remain with him in Crusader-era Jerusalem, or return to my own time without him, but with a relic that can prevent nuclear holocaust…?

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Laura: “I can resist anything except temptation.” (Oscar Wilde)

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Laura.

Laura: Thanks so much for hosting me, Ann! This has been fabulous fun. :-)

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Laura please visit:

www.LauraNavarre.com
www.facebook.com/LauraNavarreAuthor
www.twitter.com/LauraNavarre

FEATURED TITLE: THE DEVIL'S TEMPTRESS

Blurb:

THE BEAUTY

In the glittering, sumptuous court of Eleanor of Aquitaine, betrayal lurks around every corner. The queen is at odds with her king, and to obey one could mean treason against the other. Even Alienore, considered the most virtuous lady at court, holds secrets: whether masquerading as a knight on the tourney field to defend those without a champion or desperately trying to save her lands—and her maidenhead—from the Duke of Ormonde.

THE BLACK KNIGHT

He is called the Raven—his face scarred by a Saracen blade, his voice raspy with the effects of Greek fire. His parentage is unknown, his prowess legendary. And he’ll sell his sword to the highest bidder. As his piercing eyes track her every move, Alienore wonders who he’s working for now. Finding a spy for King Henry? Sent by the duke to fetch her home? Or is each heated touch, each whispered promise of pleasure part of a much more personal mission?

Excerpt:

The black stallion erupted into view, snow spraying beneath his hooves.

All her senses sharpened as the outcast knight thundered toward Alienore like a nightmare against the gray-white forest. The world paled with dismay at his passage. Even the small woodland sounds—the rustle of branches, the yip of a hunting fox—receded as the stallion halted before her in a scramble of hooves.

Then a raucous scream split the air, as a dark bird raked across the sky. Her heart froze as razor-sharp talons sliced toward the knight’s unprotected face. But he stared straight ahead as the raven arrowed toward him—and landed, delicate as a lady, on his shoulder. Wicked claws flexed gently as the bird settled. Suspended breath escaped her lungs in a rush.

“By my faith, sir, what are you?” she whispered.

In her turmoil, she’d spoken English—a tongue rare in Aquitaine—and he did not reply. Unperturbed by the corvine preening on his shoulder, the knight called the Raven studied her through eyes like flickering flames. Her skin prickled with foreboding, and an ungodly thrill.

So she had not given him the slip after all. Why must the infernal man always find her at a disadvantage?

“Have you not the good grace,” she said in Norman French, “to know when a lady wishes to quit your company?”

His lean face hardened, cruel as any Saracen. Topaz eyes glinted as they raked the forest. “Expecting someone?”

Sweet mercy, does he think I am trysting with rebels? If he’s the King’s man, this will be my undoing.

She swallowed down her fear, defiance sparking. “I expected no more than a private hour. But it appears I am to be denied even that much.”

When he swung a leg forward over the pommel to dismount, the corvine fluttered from his shoulder to perch in a tree. Paying the uncanny creature no heed—as though accustomed to the Devil’s creatures—the knight sprang from the saddle. Light-footed as a cat, he landed in a swirl of stark wool.

Her senses stretched to tingling alert as he stalked toward her. Alone they were in the forest, but never say she feared him. Was she a lion or a mouse?

“Were you thrown?” He looked askance at the wounded Galahad.

“Hardly,” Alienore said proudly. “My destrier picked up a stone.”

He gestured her aside. Sparing with words, but at least he could not be accused of idle chatter! A twinge of curiosity plucked her nerves as she wondered if that shredded voice troubled him when he used it.

Aware of the bird’s beady gaze, she circled away, keeping her distance from the wicked crescent of Damascus steel at the knight’s side. He frowned over the injured hoof, and she suffered a stab of guilt. Aye, she should not have been galloping down this ill-kept trail. She was fortunate to fare no worse, though finding herself marooned with the Devil of Damascus—a known ravisher of women—was bad enough.

The knight slid a curved dagger from his boot. Alarm spurted through her as her hand flew to her long-knife.

But he only swept that banner of sin-black hair behind his shoulder. Then he pried at the embedded stone with the dagger’s notched tip. Embarrassment warmed her cheeks as she dropped her hand, and brushed needlessly at her mantle.

While he worked, she studied him. Even preoccupied with the delicate procedure, bitterness lingered around his eyes and mouth. Perhaps he was merely weary, features lined with years of privation and war. The jagged scar raking from ear to jaw contributed to his disreputable air.

Yet the Raven’s hands were gentle as he handled her injured horse without aggravating the inflamed hoof.

When the stone dropped, she peered at the hoof. “’Tis only bruised, thank Heaven.”

An exotic aroma wafted from his clothing—the spice of incense, heavy with musk and sandalwood. Then he released the hoof and straightened. Like a startled deer, she shied away.

“That sprint was foolish on this terrain, lady. Could have broken his neck—or yours.”

He echoed her own thoughts, yet it vexed her to hear him say it.

“I know what I am about, monsieur. This path is familiar to me.”

“No doubt.” His eyes narrowed. “But reckless all the same, and you know it.”

Did he speak of more than her ill-conceived flight? Had he discerned her identity, that day on the tourney field?

“I am bold, perhaps.” She tucked ribbons of hair beneath her hood. “But rarely reckless. There is a difference.”

His own hair slithered forward, decadent and unconstrained, as he slid a practiced hand along the stallion’s leg. “You’re no empty-headed sparrow, a woman of your station.”

A dangerous thought, if he’s the King’s man.

Briskly, Alienore gathered her reins. “Pray do not concern yourself on my account. You need not forego your hunt. I shall return to the castle on foot, so my horse sustains no greater damage.”

When he did not spring to obey, she added, “I know the way, so you need not linger.”

Abruptly the Raven straightened, shaking back that profligate hair. The bird startled into flight, a flurry of black wings and beak as it raked away. When the knight claimed her reins, apprehension spiked through her. She stared at his hand: sun-bronzed, long-fingered, rough with use—a fighting man’s hand beyond question, deadly yet graceful, like the man himself.

“You bid me come and go like a stripling page,” he said, with dangerous softness. “Best not become accustomed to it.”

REMEMBER: Laura will be giving away a copy of her new e-book release, my Dark Crusader romance, The Devils' Temptress, in the reader's preferred format. Anyone who posts a response to the blog will be entered. The winner will be drawn and notified after the Spotlight week is finished, and the e-book will be sent on Feb. 15 when it's released.